Oceans of Opportunity: Harnessing Europe's Largest Domestic Energy Resource

Oceans of Opportunity
Harnessing Europe’s largest domestic energy resource
A report by the European Wind Energy Association

Oceans of opportunity
Europe’s offshore wind potential is enormous and able to power Europe
seven times over.
Huge developer interest

Over 100 GW of offshore wind projects are already in various stages
of planning. If realised, these projects would produce 10% of the EU’s
electricity whilst avoiding 200 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.
Repeating the onshore success
EWEA has a target of 40 GW of offshore wind in the EU by 2020,
implying an average annual market growth of 28% over the coming 12
years. The EU market for onshore wind grew by an average 32% per year
in the 12-year period from 1992-2004 – what the wind energy industry
has achieved on land can be repeated at sea.
Building the offshore grid

EWEA’s proposed offshore grid builds on the 11 offshore grids currently
operating and 21 offshore grids currently being considered by the grid
operators in the Baltic and North Seas to give Europe a truly pan-European
electricity super highway.
Realising the potential

Strong political support and action from Europe’s policy-makers will allow
a new, multi-billion euro industry to be built.
EWEA Results that speak for themselves

This new industry will deliver thousands of green collar jobs and a new
About EWEA renewable energy economy and establish Europe as world leader in
EWEA is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting the utilisation of offshore wind power technology.
wind power in Europe and worldwide. It now has over 600 members from
almost 60 countries including manufacturers with a 90% share of the world A single European electricity market with large amounts of wind power
wind power market, plus component suppliers, research institutes, national will bring affordable electricity to consumers, reduce import dependence,
wind and renewables associations, developers, electricity providers, finance cut CO2 emissions and allow Europe to access its largest domestic
and insurance companies and consultants.
energy source.
A report by the European Wind Energy Association

www.ewea.org
ewea@ewea.org
Tel: +32 2 546 1940 – Fax: +32 2 546 1944
By the European Wind Energy Association
September 2009
Coordinating and main authors: Dr. Nicolas Fichaux (EWEA) and Justin Wilkes (EWEA)
Main contributing authors: Frans Van Hulle (Technical Advisor to EWEA) and Aidan Cronin (Merchant Green)
Contributors: Jacopo Moccia (EWEA), Paul Wilczek (EWEA), Liming Qiao (GWEC), Laurie Jodziewicz (AWEA), Elke Zander (EWEA),
Christian Kjaer (EWEA), Glória Rodrigues (EWEA) and 22 industry interviewees
Editors: Sarah Azau (EWEA) and Chris Rose (EWEA)
Design: Jesus Quesada (EWEA)
Maps: La Tene Maps and EWEA
Cover photo: Risø Institute
OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT 3

Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
EWEA target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Unlimited potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Over 100 GW already proposed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2010 will be a key year for grid development planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Supply chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Spatial planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1. The Offshore Wind Power Market of the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2008 and 2009: steady as she goes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2010: annual market passes 1 GW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2011-2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Annual installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Wind energy production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Offshore wind power investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Avoiding climate change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2021-2030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Annual installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Wind energy production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Offshore wind power investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Avoiding climate change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Offshore development – deeper and further . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Europe’s first mover advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The United States: hot on Europe’s heels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
China: the first farm is developed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2. Spatial Planning: Supporting Offshore Wind and Grid Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Maritime spatial planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Offshore wind synergies with other maritime activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3. Building the European Offshore Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Mapping and planning the offshore grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Drivers for planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Planning in the different maritime areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Planning approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Policy processes supporting the planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Offshore grid topology and construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
No lack of ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Offshore grid technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Offshore grid topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Spotlight on specific EU-funded projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4 OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT

EWEA’s 20 Year Offshore Network Development Master Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
How an offshore grid will evolve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Kriegers Flak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Offshore grid construction timeline – staged approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Onshore grid upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The operational and regulatory aspects of offshore grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Network operation: close cooperation within ENTSO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Combining transmission of offshore wind power and power trading . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Regulatory framework enabling improved market rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Economic value of an offshore grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Intrinsic value of an offshore grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Value of an offshore grid in the context of a stronger European transmission network . 38
Investments and financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Investment cost estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Financing the European electricity grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4. Supply Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Building a second European offshore industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Supply of turbines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The future for wind turbine designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Supply of substructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Vessels – turbine installation, substructure installation and other vessels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
A brief introduction to some vessels used in turbine installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Vessels status for European offshore wind installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Future innovative installation vessels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Ports and harbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Harbour requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Existing facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Showcase: Bremerhaven’s success story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Harbours of the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Future trends in manufacturing for the offshore wind industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5. Main Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Annex: Offshore Wind Energy Installations 2000-2030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Executive
Summary
Photo: Dong Energy

Offshore wind power is vital for Europe’s future. will match that of the North Sea oil and gas endeavour.
Offshore wind power provides the answer to Europe’s However, the wind energy sector has a proven track
energy and climate dilemma – exploiting an abundant record onshore with which to boost its confidence,
energy resource which does not emit greenhouse and will be significantly longer lived than the oil and
gases, reduces dependence on increasingly costly gas sector.
fuel imports, creates thousands of jobs and provides
large quantities of indigenous affordable electricity. To reach 40 GW of offshore wind capacity in the EU
This is recognised by the European Commission in its by 2020 would require an average growth in annual
2008 Communication ‘Offshore Wind Energy: Action installations of 28% - from 366 MW in 2008 to 6,900
needed to deliver on the Energy Policy Objectives for MW in 2020. In the 12 year period from 1992-2004,
2020 and beyond’(1). the market for onshore wind capacity in the EU grew
by an average 32% annually: from 215 MW to 5,749
Europe is faced with the global challenges of climate MW. There is nothing to suggest that this historic
change, depleting indigenous energy resources, onshore wind development cannot be repeated at
increasing fuel costs and the threat of supply disrup- sea.
tions. Over the next 12 years, according to the
European Commission, 360 GW of new electricity Unlimited potential
capacity – 50% of current EU capacity – needs to be
built to replace ageing European power plants and By 2020, most of the EU’s renewable electricity
meet the expected increase in demand. Europe must will be produced by onshore wind farms. Europe
use the opportunity created by the large turnover in must, however, use the coming decade to prepare
capacity to construct a new, modern power system for the large-scale exploitation of its largest indig-
capable of meeting the energy and climate challenges enous energy resource, offshore wind power. That
of the 21st century while enhancing Europe’s competi- the wind resource over Europe’s seas is enormous
tiveness and energy independence. was confirmed in June by the European Environment
Agency’s (EEA) ‘Europe’s onshore and offshore wind
EWEA target energy potential’(2). The study states that offshore
wind power’s economically competitive potential in
In March, at the European Wind Energy Conference 2020 is 2,600 TWh, equal to between 60% and 70%
2009 (EWEC 2009), the European Wind Energy of projected electricity demand, rising to 3,400 TWh
Association (EWEA) increased its 2020 target to 230 in 2030, equal to 80% of the projected EU electricity
GW wind power capacity, including 40 GW offshore demand. The EEA estimates the technical potential
wind. Reaching 40 GW of offshore wind power capacity of offshore wind in 2020 at 25,000 TWh, between
in the EU by 2020 is a challenging but manageable six and seven times greater than projected electricity
task. An entire new offshore wind power industry and demand, rising to 30,000 TWh in 2030, seven times
a new supply chain must be developed on a scale that greater than projected electricity demand. The EEA
(1)
European Commission, 2008. ‘Offshore Wind Energy: Action needed to deliver on the Energy Policy Objectives for 2020 and
beyond’. Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0768:FIN:EN:PDF.
(2)
EEA (European Environment Agency), 2009. ‘Europe’s onshore and offshore wind energy potential’. Technical report No 6/2009.

Executive Summary
as three other European countries. The rewards for

Europe exploiting its huge offshore wind potential are
enormous – this 100 GW will produce 373 TWh of elec-
tricity each year, meeting between 8.7% and 11% of
the EU’s electricity demand, whilst avoiding 202 million
tonnes of CO2 in a single year.
In order to ensure that the 100 GW of projects can

move forward, and reach 150 GW of operating offshore
wind power by 2030, coordinated action is required
from the European Commission, EU governments,
regulators, the transmission system operators (TSOs)
and the wind industry. Working in partnership on devel-
oping the offshore industry’s supply chain, putting in
place maritime spatial planning, building an offshore
electricity grid based on EWEA’s 20 Year Offshore
Network Development Master Plan, and ensuring
continued technological development for the offshore
industry, are key issues.
By 2020, the initial stages of an offshore pan-Euro-

pean grid should be constructed and operating with
an agreed plan developed for its expansion to accom-
modate the 2030 and 2050 ambitions.
Grids
The future transnational offshore grid will have many

functions, each benefitting Europe in different ways. It
will provide grid access to offshore wind farms, smooth
the variability of their output on the markets and
Photo: Elsam
improve the ability to trade electricity within Europe,

thereby contributing dramatically to Europe’s energy
security.
has clearly recognised that offshore wind power will We must stop thinking of electrical grids as national
be key to Europe’s energy future. infrastructure and start developing them -- onshore
and offshore -- to become European corridors for elec-
Over 100 GW already proposed tricity trade. And we must start developing them now.
The faster they are developed, the faster we will have
It is little wonder therefore that over 100 GW of offshore a domestic substitute if future fuel import supplies
wind energy projects have already been proposed or are disrupted or the cost of fuel becomes prohibitively
are already being developed by Europe’s pioneering expensive, as the world experienced during 2008.
offshore wind developers. This shows the enormous
interest among Europe’s industrial entrepreneurs, The future European offshore grid will contribute
developers and investors. It also shows that EWEA’s to building a well-functioning single European elec-
targets of 40 GW by 2020 and 150 GW by 2030 are tricity market that will benefit all consumers, with
eminently realistic and achievable. The 100 or more the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean
GW is spread across 15 EU Member States, as well Sea leading the way. Preliminary assessments of the

economic value of the offshore grid indicate that it will The technical challenges are greater offshore but no
bring significant economic benefits to all society. greater than when the North Sea oil and gas industry
took existing onshore extraction technology and
Europe’s offshore grid should be built to integrate adapted it to the more hostile environment at sea.
the expected 40 GW of offshore wind power by 2020, An entire new offshore wind power industry and a new
and the expected 150 GW of offshore wind power by supply chain must be developed on a scale that will
2030. It is for this reason that EWEA has proposed its match that of the North Sea oil and gas endeavour,
20 Year Offshore Network Development Master Plan but one that will have a much longer life.
(Chapter 3). This European vision must now be taken
forward and implemented by the European Commission Technology
and the European Network of Transmission System
Operators (ENTSO-E), together with a new business Offshore wind energy has been identified by the
model for investing in offshore power grids and inter- European Union as a key power generation technology
connectors which should be rapidly introduced based for the renewable energy future, and where Europe
on a regulated rate of return for new investments. should lead the world technologically. The support of
the EU is necessary to maintain Europe’s technolog-
2010 will be a key year for grid development ical lead in offshore wind energy by improving turbine
planning design, developing the next generation of offshore
wind turbines, substructures, infrastructure, and
The European Commission will publish a ‘Blueprint for investing in people to ensure they can fill the thou-
a North Sea Grid’(3) making offshore wind power the key sands of new jobs being created every year by the
energy source of the future. ENTSO-E will publish its offshore wind sector.
first 10 Year Network Development Plan, which should,
if suitably visionary, integrate the first half of EWEA’s To accelerate development of the technology and
20 Year Offshore Network Development Master Plan. in order to attract investors to this grand European
The European Commission will also publish its EU project, a European offshore wind energy payment
Energy Security and Infrastructure Instrument which mechanism could be introduced. It should be a volun-
must play a key role in putting in place the necessary tary action by the relevant Member States (coordinated
financing for a pan-European onshore and offshore by the European Commission) according to Article 11
grid, and enable the European Commission, if neces- of the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive. It is impor-
sary, to take the lead in planning such a grid. tant that such a mechanism does not interfere with
the national frameworks that are being developed in
Supply chain accordance with that same directive.
The offshore wind sector is an emerging industrial Spatial planning

giant. But it will only grow as fast as the tightest supply
chain bottleneck. It is therefore vitally important that The decision by countries to perform maritime spatial
these bottlenecks are identified and addressed so as planning (MSP) and dedicate areas for offshore wind
not to constrain the industrial development. Turbine developments and electricity interconnectors sends
installation vessels, substructure installation vessels, clear positive signals to the industry. Provided the right
cable laying vessels, turbines, substructures, towers, policies and incentives are in place, MSP gives the
wind turbine components, ports and harbours must be industry long-term visibility of its market, and enables
financed and available in sufficient quantities for the synergies with other maritime sectors. Consolidated
developers to take forward their 100 GW of offshore at European level, such approaches would enable
wind projects in a timely manner. investments to be planned out. This would enable the
whole value chain to seek investment in key elements
Through dramatically increased R&D and economies of the supply chain (e.g. turbine components, cables,
of scale, the cost of offshore wind energy will follow vessels, people) while potentially lowering risks and
the same path as onshore wind energy in the past. capital costs.
(3)
The Council Conclusions to the 2nd Strategic Energy Review referred to the Blueprint as a North West Offshore Grid.

Chapter 1
The Offshore
Wind Power
Market of
the Future
Photo: Dong Energy

2008 and 2009: steady as she goes 2009 has seen strong market development with a
much larger number of projects beginning construc-
2008 saw 366 MW of offshore wind capacity installed tion, under construction, expected to be completed, or
in the EU (compared to 8,111 MW onshore) in seven completed during the course of the year. EWEA antici-
separate offshore wind farms, taking the total installed pates an annual market in 2009 of approximately 420
capacity to 1,471 MW in eight Member States. The UK MW, including the first large-scale floating prototype
installed more than any other country during 2008 and off the coast of Norway.
became the nation with the largest installed offshore
capacity, overtaking Denmark. Activity in 2008 was By the end of 2009 EWEA expects a total installed
dominated by ongoing work at Lynn and Inner Dowsing offshore capacity of just under 2,000 MW in Europe.
wind farms in the UK and by Princess Amalia in the
Netherlands. 2010: annual market passes 1 GW
In addition to these large projects, Phase 1 of Thornton Assuming the financial crisis does not blow the
Bank in Belgium was developed together with two near- offshore wind industry off course, 2010 will be a
shore projects, one in Finland and one in Germany. In defining year for the offshore wind power market in
addition, an 80 kW turbine (not connected to the grid) Europe. Over 1,000 MW (1 GW) is expected to be
was piloted on a floating platform in a water depth installed. Depending on the amount of wind power
of 108m in Italy. Subsequently decommissioned, this installed onshore, it looks as if Europe’s 2010
turbine was the first to take the offshore wind industry offshore market could make up approximately 10%
into the Mediterranean Sea, which, together with of Europe’s total annual wind market, making the
developments in the Baltic Sea, North Sea and Irish offshore industry a significant mainstream energy
Sea, highlights the pan-European nature of today’s player in its own right.
offshore wind industry.
Summary of the offshore wind energy market in the EU in 2010:
• Total installed capacity of 3,000 MW • Meeting 0.3% of total EU electricity demand
• Annual installations of 1,100 MW • Avoiding 7 Mt of CO2 annually
• Electricity production of 11 TWh • Annual investments in wind turbines of €2.5 billion

Chapter 1 - The Offshore Wind Power Market of the Future
100 GW and counting…
In summer 2009 EWEA surveyed those of its mem- phase or proposed by project developers or govern-
bers active in developing and supplying the offshore ment proposed development zones. This 100 GW of
wind industry, in order to underpin its scenario devel- offshore wind projects shows tremendous developer
opment for 2030. The project pipelines supplied interest and provides a good indication that EWEA’s
by offshore wind developers are presented in the expectation that 150 GW of offshore wind power will
Offshore Wind Map and outlined in this report. In all, be operating by 2030 is both accurate and credible(4).
EWEA has identified proposals for over 100 GW of
offshore wind projects in European waters - either To see the updated Offshore Wind Map:
under construction, consented, in the consenting www.ewea.org/offshore
2011 – 2020 As can be seen in Figure 1, EWEA’s offshore scenario

(See annex for detailed statistics) can be compared to the growth of the European
onshore wind market at a similar time in the industry’s
In December 2008 the European Union agreed on development.
a binding target of 20% renewable energy by 2020.
To meet the 20% target for renewable energy, the Annual installations
European Commission expects 34%(5) of electricity to
come from renewable energy sources by 2020 and Between 2011 and 2020, EWEA expects the annual
believes that “wind could contribute 12% of EU elec- offshore market for wind turbines to grow steadily from
tricity by 2020”. 1.5 GW in 2011 to reach 6.9 GW in 2020. Throughout
this period, the market for onshore wind turbines will
Not least due to the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive exceed the offshore market in the EU.
and the 27 mandatory national renewable energy
targets, the Commission’s expectations for 2020 Figure 2: Offshore wind energy annual and cumula-
should now be increased. EWEA therefore predicts tive installations 2011-2020 (MW)
that the total installed offshore wind capacity in 2020
will be 40 GW, up from just under 1.5 GW today. 40,000 8,000
Figure 1: Historical onshore growth 1992-2004 com- 35,000 7,000

pared to EWEA’s offshore projection 2008-2020 (MW) Annual (right-hand axis)
30,000 Cumulative (left-hand axis) 6,000
7,000
25,000 5,000
Onshore (1992-2004)
6,000
Offshore (2008-2020) 20,000 4,000
5,000
15,000 3,000
4,000
10,000 2,000
3,000
5,000 1,000
2,000
(MW) 0 0 (MW)
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
1,000
(MW) 0
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
(4)
Independently of EWEA’s survey of offshore developers which identified 120 GW of offshore wind farms under construction,
consented, or announced by companies or proposed development/concession zones (available at www.ewea.org/offshore) New
Energy Finance has indentified 105 GW of offshore wind projects in Europe (NEF Research Note: Offshore Wind 28 July 2009).
(5)
European Commission, 2006. ‘Renewable Energy Roadmap’, COM(2006)848 final.

Wind Energy Production Figure 4: Annual and cumulative investments in
offshore wind power 2011-2020 (€billion 2005)
The 40 GW of installed capacity in 2020 would produce
148 TWh of electricity in 2020, equal to between 3.6% 60 9.0
and 4.3% of EU electricity consumption, depending on Annual investment (right-hand axis)

50 7.5
the development in electricity demand. Approximately Cumulative investment (left-hand axis)
a quarter of Europe’s wind energy would be

40 6.0
produced offshore in 2020(6). Including onshore, wind
energy would produce 582 TWh, enough to meet 30 4.5
between 14.3% and 16.9% of total EU electricity
demand by 2020. 20 3.0
Figure 3: Electricity production 2011-2020 (TWh) 10 1.5
160
(€bn) 0 0 (€bn)
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
140
Avoiding Climate Change
120 TWh offshore
In 2011, offshore wind power will avoid the emission
100 of 10 Mt of C02, a figure that will rise to 85 Mt in the
year 2020.
80
60
40
20
(TWh) 0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Offshore wind power investments
Annual investments in offshore wind power are

expected to increase from €3.3 billion in 2011 to
€8.81 billion in 2020.
The 230 GW of wind power operating in 2020 would produce 582 TWh of electricity, with the 40 GW offshore contributing 148 TWh.
(6)

• Total installed capacity of 40,000 MW • Meeting between 3.6% and 4.3% of total
EU electricity demand
• Annual installations of 6,900 MW
• Avoiding 85Mt of CO2 annually
• Electricity production of 148 TWh
• Annual investments in wind turbines of €8.8 billion
2021 - 2030 energy’s total share to between 26.2% and 34.3% of

EU electricity demand.
Annual installations
Figure 7: Electricity production 2021-2030 (TWh)
Between 2021 and 2030, the annual offshore market
for wind turbines will grow steadily from 7.7 GW in 600
2021 to reach 13.6 GW in 2030. 2027 will be the first
year in which the market for offshore wind turbines 500 Annual
exceeds the onshore market in the EU.
400
Figure 6: Offshore wind energy annual and cumula-
tive installations 2021-2030 (MW) 300
160,000 16,000 200
Annual (right-hand axis)

140,000 14,000 100
Cumulative (left-hand axis)
120,000 12,000
(TWh) 0
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
100,000 10,000
Offshore wind power investments

80,000 8,000
60,000 6,000
Annual investments in offshore wind power are
expected to increase from €9.8 billion in 2021 to
40,000 4,000 €16.5 billion in 2030.
20,000 2,000
(MW) 0 0 (MW)
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Wind Energy Production
The 150 GW of installed capacity in 2030 would

produce 563 TWh of electricity in 2030, equal to
between 12.8% and 16.7% of EU electricity consump-
tion, depending on the development in demand for
power. Approximately half of Europe’s wind electricity
would be produced offshore in 2030(7). An additional
592 TWh would be produced onshore, bringing wind
The 400 GW of wind power operating in 2030 would produce 1,155 TWh of electricity, with the 150 GW offshore
(7)
contributing 563 TWh.

Figure 8: Annual and cumulative investments in Figure 9: Annual and cumulative avoided CO2 emis-
offshore wind power 2021-2030 (€billion) sions 2021-2030 (million tonnes)
140 17.5 2,000 320
Annual (right-hand axis) Annual (right-hand axis)

120 Cumulative (left-hand axis) 15.0 1,750 280
Cumulative (left-hand axis)
100 12.5 1,500 240
80 10.0 1,250 200
60 7.5 1,000 160
40 5.0 750 120
20 2.5 500 80
(€bn) 0 (€bn)0 250 40

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
(mt) 0 0 (mt)
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Avoiding Climate Change
In 2021, offshore wind power will avoid the emission

of 100 Mt of C02, a figure that will rise to 292 Mt in
the year 2030.
•Total installed capacity of 150,000 MW • Meeting between 12.8% and 16.7% of total EU
electricity demand
•Annual installations of 13,690 MW
• Avoiding 292 Mt of CO2 annually
•Electricity production of 563 TWh
• Annual investments in wind turbines of €16.5 billion

Offshore development – deeper and further and further from the shore. Looking at the wind farms
proposed by project developers, the wind industry will
As technology develops and experience is gained, the gradually move beyond the so-called 20:20 envelope
offshore wind industry will move into deeper water (20m water depth, 20 km from shore).
Figure 10: Development of the offshore wind industry in terms of water depth (m) and distance to shore (km)
160
Distance to shore (km)
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360
Water depth (m)

<20 km :<20 m <60 km:<60 m >60 km:<60 m <60 km:>60 m >60 km:>60 m
This scatter graph shows the probable future devel- result from development in Germany – and will include
opment trends of the offshore industry in the 2025 in the future the UK’s Round 3, characterised by farms
timeframe (approximately)(8) . far from shore (more than 60 km) connecting in ideal
situations to offshore supernodes, with a water depth
Identified trends: generally between 20m and 60m.
<20 km:<20m <60 km:>60m

At the moment operating wind farms tend to be built Deep offshore – based on project proposals high-
not further than 20km from the shore in water depths lighted to EWEA from project developers using floating
of not more than 20m. platform technologies during the course of the next
decade, not further than 60 km from shore.
<60 km:<60m
The current 20:20 envelope will be extended by the >60 km:>60m
majority of offshore farms to not more than 60 km Deep far offshore – this scatter graph highlights the
from shore in water depths of not more than 60m. future long term potential of combining an offshore
grid (far offshore) with floating concepts (deep
>60 km:<60m offshore) which is beyond the scope and timeframe
Far offshore development, which includes current of this report.
development zones – those illustrated here mainly
(8)
The data is based on an EWEA spreadsheet containing information on all offshore wind farms that are operating, under construc-
tion, consented, in the consenting process or proposed by project developers supplied to EWEA and available (updated) at
www.ewea.org/offshore. The scatter graph contains only those farms where both water depth and distance to shore was provided
to EWEA, and should therefore be treated with a suitable level of caution.

Europe’s first mover offshore advantage Rhode Island and New Jersey each conducted compet-
itive processes to choose developers to work on
To date, all fully operational offshore wind farms are projects off their shores, demonstrating that state
in Europe. However, two countries outside Europe in leadership is driving much of the interest in offshore
particular are determined to exploit their offshore wind projects in the U.S.
wind potential, providing European companies with
significant opportunities for manufacturing and tech- A Delaware utility signed a Power Purchase Agreement
nology exports, experienced developers, project with a developer, committing that state to a project in
planners, infrastructure experts, and installation the near future.
equipment.
The wind industry welcomed the release of a new
The United States: hot on Europe’s heels(9) regulatory framework from the Minerals Management
Service (MMS) of the Department of the Interior after
The prospects for wind energy projects off the coasts much delay. President Bush signed the Energy Policy
of the United States brightened in 2008 and 2009. A Act of 2005 setting MMS as the lead regulatory agency
government report(10) recognised significant potential for projects in federal waters, but the final rules were
for offshore wind’s contribution. Two states completed not released until April 2009.
competitive processes for proposed projects, one
company signed a Power Purchase Agreement with And not to be left behind, states surrounding the
a major utility, and a final regulatory framework was Great Lakes have also showed interest over the past
released by the Obama Administration in its first 100 two years in pursuing projects in America’s fresh
days(11). water. Michigan and Wisconsin both completed major
studies regarding the potential for offshore wind, Ohio
In May 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy released is conducting a feasibility study for a small project in
“20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy’s Lake Erie, and the New York Power Authority asked
Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply”, which investi- for expressions of interest for projects in Lake Ontario
gated the feasibility of wind energy providing 20% of and Lake Erie in the first half of 2009.
U.S. electricity. The report found that more than 300
GW of wind energy capacity would need to be installed, On 22 April 2009, President Barack Obama said “…
including 54 GW offshore. we are establishing a programme to authorise -- for
Photo: Siemens
Contribution from Laurie Jodziewicz, American Wind Energy Association.

(9)
(10)
U.S. Department of Energy, 2008. ‘20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy’s Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply’
http://www.20percentwind.org/20p.aspx?page=Report. May 2008.
(11)
http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/031709.html.

Photo: Siemens
the very first time -- the leasing of federal waters for coastline to 20m out to sea covers about 157,000
projects to generate electricity from wind as well as km2. Assuming 10% to 20% of the total amount of sea
from ocean currents and other renewable sources. surface were to be used for offshore development, the
And this will open the door to major investments in total offshore wind capacity could reach 100-200 GW.
offshore clean energy. For example, there is enormous However, in the coastal zone to the south of China,
interest in wind projects off the coasts of New Jersey typhoons may be a limiting factor for the deployment
and Delaware, and today’s announcement will enable of offshore wind turbines, especially in the Guangdong,
these projects to move forward.” Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces.
China: the first farm is developed(12) In 2005, the nation’s Eleventh Five Year Plan
encouraged the industry to learn from international
With its large land mass and long coastline, China experience on offshore wind development and to
is exceptionally rich in wind resources. According explore the offshore opportunities in Shanghai,
to the China Coastal Zone and Tideland Resource Zhejiang and Guangdong Province. The plan also sets
Investigation Report, the area from the country’s a target of setting up one to two offshore wind farms
(12)
Contribution from Liming Qiao, GWEC.

of 100 MW by 2010. In the same year, the National country’s largest offshore oil producer, with an invest-
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) also ment of 40 million yuan ($5.4 million).
put offshore wind development as one of the major
R&D priorities in the “Renewable Energy Industry Construction of the first offshore wind farm in China
Development Guideline”. started in 2009, close to Shanghai Dongdaqiao. The
first three machines were installed in April 2009. It is
At provincial level, offshore wind planning also started expected to be built by the end of 2009 and to provide
to take place in Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shanghai, electricity to the 2010 Shanghai Expo. The wind farm
Zhejiang, Hainan, Hebei and Shangdong. Among them, will consist of 34 turbines of 3 MW.
the most advanced is Jiangsu province, with a theoret-
ical offshore potential of 18 GW and a littoral belt of In terms of R&D, the government has put offshore wind
over 50 km, which is an excellent technical advantage energy technology into the government supported
for developing offshore wind. In its Wind Development R&D programme. Meanwhile, domestic turbine manu-
Plan (2006-2010), Jiangsu province stipulated that by facturers are also running their own offshore R&D.
2010, wind installation in the province should reach
1,500 MW, all onshore, and by 2020, wind installation The development of offshore wind in China is still at an
should reach 10 GW, with 7,000 MW offshore. The early stage. Many key issues need to be addressed.
plan also foresees that in the long term, the province At national level, there is still no specific policy or
will reach 30 GW of onshore wind installation capacity regulation for offshore wind development. All current
and 18 GW offshore capacity. policies are for onshore wind. Meanwhile, the approval
of offshore wind projects involves more government
The first offshore wind turbine in China was installed departments than for onshore wind projects, with a
and went online in 2007, located in Liaodong Bay lack of clarity over the different government depart-
in the northeast Bohai Sea. The test turbine has a ments’ responsibility for approving offshore wind
capacity of 1.5 MW. The wind turbine was built by projects. Grid planning and construction is another
the China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the key issue, with grid constraint hindering development.

Chapter 2
Spatial Planning:
Supporting
Offshore Wind and
Grid Development
Photo: Elsam
Maritime spatial planning Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands,
each of which has its own approach. A few coun-
Increased activity within Europe’s marine waters has tries, such as the UK, Germany and Denmark, have
led to growing competition between sectors such as integrated the deployment of offshore wind energy
shipping and maritime transport, the military, the oil into a global approach that encompasses industrial,
and gas sector, offshore wind and ocean energies, port research and policy aspects, and they are seen as the
development, fisheries and aquaculture, and environ- most promising markets.
mental concerns. The fact that the different activities
are regulated on a sectoral basis by different agen- Most other countries use existing marine plan-
cies, each with its own specific legislative approach ning laws, which can delay projects considerably as
to the allocation and use of maritime space, has led offshore wind is a newly developing and unique energy
to fragmented policy making and very limited EU coor- resource. Drawn out and imprecise planning can
dination. In contrast to spatial planning on land, EU increase the costs of offshore projects significantly.
countries generally have limited experience of inte-
grated spatial planning in the marine environment, With no integrated approach, offshore wind energy
and sometimes the relevant governance structures deployment is caught between conflicting uses,
and rules are inadequate. interest groups and rules from different sectors and
jurisdictions (both at inter-state and intra-state level).
In addition to the wide range of sectoral approaches This creates project uncertainty, increases the risk
to the use of the sea, there are very different plan- of delays in, or failure of offshore wind projects, and
ning regimes and instruments in the different impairs the sector’s potential for growth.
Member States. For example, in Germany there are
regional plans for the territorial seas and national EEZ These barriers are further aggravated by the absence
(Exclusive Economic Zones) plans, whereas in France, of an integrated and coordinated approach to mari-
sea “Enhancement Schemes” have been used in time spatial planning (MSP) between the different
some areas as the main instrument. Member States and regions. There are potential
synergies between offshore projects and cross-border
Only a few European countries currently have defined inter-connectors that are currently not being exploited
dedicated offshore wind areas, including the UK, and taken into consideration in MSP regimes. Without

Chapter 2 - Spatial planning: Supporting offshore wind and grid development
TABLE 1: Overview of the different planning methods
crown Estate (CE): Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Offshore ORCU: Permit for Secretary of State for Trade and
UK Tenders right to Renewables Consents Unit (ORCU): Food and construction/operation ORCU: Coast
Industry: Permit for construction of
develop site Environment Protection License for works at sea of a generating station protection permit onshore substation/overhead line
Developer:
Danish Energy Authority DEA: Site tender/permit to survey DEA: Building permit DEA: Permit to exploit site
Denmark (DEA): Site pre-screening for Environmental Impact Assessment
Construction of
and generate electricity
wind plant
(EIA)
Single-window Application Process
Developer: General Directorate for Energy Policy and Mines DGPEM: Adm.
DGPEM: DGPEM: Coordinate DGPEM: Developer:
Expression (DGPEM): Site pre-screening, evaluation of envi- Authorization
Spain ronmental/tourism/fishing/shipping impact/
Site application review Lease Project planning,
and construction
of interest tender with govt. agencies agreement feasibility studies
in site grid conection permit
Developer: Application for location MTW: Consultation with MTW: Invitation

MTW: Draft MTW: Final
Netherlands incl. EIA to Ministry of Transport stakeholders (EIA, defense, to submit building
building permit building permit
and Water Resources (MTW) shipping, fishing, etc.) application
Developer: Presents concessions appli- MME: MME: Publishes initial concession MME: Building and
Belgium cation, incl. detailed site plan/EIA to Consultation with application, opens concession exploitation authorization
Ministry of Marine Environment (MME) stakeholders process to competitors (plant/cabling)
Developer: Notice of intention Developer: Public Developer: Two years envi- BSH: BSH: Länder (state government): Cable
Germany to construct communicated to and stakeholder ronmental study, shipping Project Cable approval approval 12 nm zone for the
BSH (federal marine authority) consultation risk analysis approval EEZ Transmission System Operator
Developer: Intention to apply Developer: Informal Developer: Formal Energy Regulator: Oil and Energy
Norway for permits communicated public and stakeholder application presented Formal public and stake- Energy Regulator: Ministry: Final project
Energy Regulator consultation to Energy Regulator holder consultation Application approval approval if appeal
Developer: Public and Commission for energy

Multiple-window
Department of Communications, Energy, and Natural stakeholder consultation CENR: Foreshore regulation: Construction,
Ireland Resources (CENR): Foreshore license to explore site lease
preparation of EIS generation, and supply permit
Ministry of Industry: Ministry of Sustainable Building permit, Municipality Network Authority (part of Energy
Sweden Permit for explotation Development: if in 12 nm zone, Ministry of Administration): Concession for
of seabed Environmental permit Industry if in EEZ cabling and grid access
Maritime Authority: Site Ministry of Transport (MoT): Consultation MoT: Authorization to

Italy
being defined/finalized
Application Guidelines
consent dependent on MoT with Economic and Environment Ministries build and operate wind
Authorization and stakeholders plant
Competent Authority Competent Authority TBD: Prefect Maritime: Competent Authority

France TBD: Declaration of Zone Environmental Impact Concession for use TBD: Construction
Development Eolien (ZDE) Statement (EIS) of public land permit
Poland No current protocol
Different ministry involved Developer National authority Local authority To be defined
Source: Emerging Energy Research, 2008. ‘Global Offshore Wind Energy Markets and Strategies 2008 – 2020’.
cross-border coordination, grid investments in partic- power generation by the recent European Commission
ular risk being sub-optimal because they will be made Communications:
from an individual project and national perspective,
rather than from a system and transnational perspec- • ‘Offshore Wind Energy: action needed to deliver
tive. This harms both the deployment of offshore wind on the Energy Policy Objectives for 2020 and
energy projects and the development of a well-func- beyond’(13);
tioning Europe-wide market for electricity. • ‘An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European
Union’(14); and
The lack of integrated strategic planning and cross- • ‘Roadmap for Maritime Spatial Planning: achieving
border coordination has been identified as one of common principles in the EU’(15).
the main challenges to the deployment of offshore
(13)
COM (2008) 768. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0768:FIN:EN:PDF.
(14)
(15)

Recommendation:
If Member States decided to perform maritime spatial Maritime spatial planning approaches should be
planning (MSP), and dedicate areas for offshore wind based on a common vision shared at sea basin level.
developments and electricity interconnectors, it would In this regard, cross border cooperation on MSP is
send clear positive signals to the industry. Provided key for building a common and streamlined planning
the right policies and incentives are in place, MSP approach and making optimal use of the maritime
gives the industry long term visibility of its market. space. Cross-border cooperation on MSP would aid
Consolidated at European level, such approaches projects crossing several Economic Exclusive Zones
would enable investments to be planned out. This such as large-scale offshore wind projects, and the
would enable the entire value chain to seek invest- interconnectors of the future pan-European grid.
ment in key elements of the supply chain (e.g. turbine
components, cables, vessels, people) while poten-
tially lowering the risks and capital costs.
Offshore wind synergies with other maritime started in Denmark to combine offshore wind parks
activities with aquaculture. Offshore wind parks could also be
combined with large desalination plants, or be used
Offshore wind parks cover large areas as the project as artificial reefs to improve fish stocks. Since the
size must be sufficient to ensure the financial foundation structure in an offshore wind turbine is
viability of the project, and as a minimal distance large and stable it may in the future be combined
between the turbines is needed to avoid or mini- with ocean energies to give additional power produc-
mise the wake effects. It is therefore possible to tion at a given offshore site. This last point was also
optimise the use of the space by developing syner- promoted by the European Commission through the
gies with other activities. For example, a project has recent 2009 FP7 call.
Photo: Eneco

Chapter 3
Building the
European
Offshore Grid
Photo: Siemens
Introduction • increased interconnection capacity will provide
additional firm power (capacity credit) from the
The deployment of offshore wind energy requires a offshore wind resource.
dedicated offshore electricity system. Such a system
will provide grid access for the more remote offshore The future European offshore grid will therefore
wind farms, and additional interconnection capacity to contribute to building a well-functioning single European
improve the trading of electricity between the differing electricity market that will benefit all consumers.
national electricity markets. The transnational offshore Because of the prominent concentration of planned
grid of the future will have many functions, each bene- offshore wind farms in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea
fitting Europe in different ways: and the Mediterranean Sea, a transnational offshore
grid should be built first in those areas. In many of
• the geographically distributed output of the the offshore grid designs that have already been
connected offshore wind farms will be aggregated proposed, an offshore grid has branches reaching as
and therefore smoothed, increasing the predict- far as Ireland, France and Spain.
ability of the energy output and diminishing the
need for additional balancing capacity(16); This section will address planning issues, technology
• wind farm operators will be able to sell wind farm aspects, possible topologies, and the consequences
output to more than one country; for the European network in general. Furthermore it
• power trading possibilities between countries will will briefly discuss the operational, regulatory and
increase; economic aspects of an offshore grid.
• it will minimise the strengthening of onshore
(mainland) interconnectors’ high-voltage networks, Mapping and planning the offshore grid
which can be difficult due to land-use conflicts;
• connecting offshore oil and gas platforms to Drivers for planning
the grid will enable a reduction of their GHG
emissions; Building an offshore grid is different from building an
• it will offer connection opportunities to other onshore grid in many ways – not least technically and
marine renewable energy sources; economically. Perhaps the greatest challenge is the
• shared use of offshore transmission lines leads international aspect. The two basic drivers throughout
to an improved and more economical utilisation of the planning (and later in the implementation stage)
grid capacity and its economical exploitation; of a transnational offshore grid are its role in interna-
• European energy security will be improved, due to tional trade and the access it provides to wind power
a more interconnected European grid; and other marine energy sources.
TradeWind, 2009. “Integrating Wind - Developing Europe’s power market for the large-scale integration of wind power.”
(16)
Available at: http://www.trade-wind.eu.

Chapter 3 - Building the European Offshore Grid
The basis for planning the offshore grid is therefore a modular way, i.e. that it is made up of modules
combination of an ambitious - but realistic - vision of that can feasibly be exploited;
future offshore wind power capacities and a common • take into account time-dependent aspects such as
stakeholder vision on the future necessary expansion realistic implementation scenarios for wind power
of the European transmission network. This report development, supply chain issues and financing
seeks to develop and implement such a vision. possibilities;
• coordinate the implementation of the offshore
The future projections for offshore wind power capacity network with the upgrade of the onshore network;
are discussed in Chapter 1. • present a coordinated approach to implementing
the common vision shared by the relevant stake-
The future development of the European transmission holders throughout the process.
grid is described in different publications (TDP UCTE
2008, Nordic Grid Master Plan 2008) and various Partners in the planning and work process are the TSOs,
national studies (the Netherlands, the UK, Denmark). governments, regulators, technical suppliers, wind farm
Some international studies (TradeWind) have explored developers, consultants and financing bodies.
the implications of offshore wind for grid require-
ments. At present, issues related to the joint planning Policy processes supporting the planning
of offshore wind power development and grid rein-
forcement arise in markets with significant offshore Because of the complexity of transnational planning
wind development (Germany, the UK). Finding practical processes, the planning of an offshore grid requires
solutions for these issues will be very helpful for the strong policy drivers and supra-national control mecha-
process of international joint planning. nisms. In the present political framework, transmission
lines through different marine zones are forced to
Planning in the different maritime areas seek regulatory and planning approval with the rele-
vant bodies of each Member State through which the
At present, offshore grid ideas are being developed line passes. Multiple country reviews impose delays of
above all for northern Europe, especially for the North years to an approval process that is already complex
Sea and the Baltic Sea. However, offshore wind farms enough.
are expected to be developed in most European
waters, and so the grid aspects of developments along Offshore grid topology and construction
the Atlantic Coast and in the Mediterranean area also
have to be considered in pan-European planning. In the No lack of ideas
longer term, and depending on further technological
developments enabling the industry to reach deeper There is no shortage of ideas from academics, grid
waters, the offshore network should be expanded to companies and various industries on how to construct
areas that have not yet been investigated, including a dedicated offshore transmission grid. Because of
the northern part of the North Sea. the concentration of planned offshore wind farms in
the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, a transnational
Planning approach offshore grid will be constructed in those areas first.
A realistic schedule for a transnational offshore grid Proposals have been put forward by several different
should: bodies, including the following:
• closely follow existing plans and ideas from • TradeWind

national transmission system operators (TSOs) to • Airtricity (see Figure 11)
enable a smooth start, for example the different • Greenpeace
planned connections between the Nordic area and • Statnett
UK, the Netherlands and Germany; • IMERA
• ensure the network is conceived and built in a • Mainstream Renewable Power (Figure 12)

figure 11: Airtricity Supergrid concept This report seeks to build on these approaches and
propose an optimal long-term development plan for
the future pan-European offshore electricity grid.
Offshore grid technology
The utilisation of HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current)

technology for the offshore grid is very attractive
because it offers the controllability needed to allow the
network both to transmit wind power and to provide
the highway for electricity trade, even between different
synchronous zones. Moreover, HVDC offers the possi-
bility of terminating inside onshore AC grids, and thus
avoiding onshore reinforcements close to the coast.
There are two basic types of HVDC transmission

links: HVDC-LCC (conventional HVDC) and the recent
HVDC-VSC (Voltage Source Convertor). HVDC-LCC has
been extensively used worldwide, operating over 6 GW
per line, at voltages of up to 800 kV. 60 GW had been
SuperNode installed by the end of 2004(17).
(Mainstream Renewable Power)
Today, the drivers for the offshore grid favour HVDC
The SuperNode configuration, developed by VSC as the best option(17b) for the following reasons:
Mainstream Renewable Power, is a first step
for the development of the European Supergrid. • the technology is suitable for the long distances
It would allow the three-way trading of power involved (up to 600 km), with minimal losses;
between the UK, Norway and Germany, and • the compactness (half the size of HVDC LCC)
include two 1 GW offshore wind farms, one in the minimises environmental impact and construction
UK and one in Germany. Depending on the wind costs, for example of the HVDC platforms;
farm output at any given time, the capacity for • the system is modular. A staged development is
trade would go up to 1 GW between each pair of possible, and stranded investments can more
countries in the combination. easily be avoided;
• the technology – because of its active controllability
figure 12: Mainstream Renewable Power - is able to provide flexible and dynamic voltage
support to AC and therefore can be connected to
both strong and weak onshore grids. Moreover, it
Norway can be used to provide black start(18), and support
the system recovery in case of failure;
• multi-terminal application is possible, which makes
it suitable for meshed(19) grids.
In this way the HVDC VSC technology seems to offer

1GW
the solution for most of the offshore grid’s technical
1GW
challenges.
UK Germany
There are two major manufacturers of HVDC VSC

technology. ABB uses the brand name HVDC Light,
whereas Siemens has branded its technology HVDC
European Academies Science Advisory Council, 2009. ‘Transforming EU’s Electricity Supply – An infrastructure strategy for
(17) & (17b)
a reliable, renewable and secure power system’.

(18)
Black start is the procedure for recovering from a total or partial shutdown of the transmission system.
(19)
Meshed topology offshore grids are able to cope with the failure of a line by diverting power automatically via other lines.

Photo: Elsam
Plus. The technologies are not identical, and efforts HVDC circuit breakers, load flow control concepts and
are needed to make them compatible and jointly oper- very fast protection schemes. Also, operational experi-
able, when used together in the future offshore grid. ence has to be collected to optimise the interface with
For that purpose, two major conceptual decisions have wind power generation in the HVDC environment.
to be taken – namely, to agree to standardise the DC
working voltage levels and to agree on the largest Offshore grid topology
possible plug and play boundary. In addition, other
players such as Areva are also developing HVDC VSC There are three basic elements which will form the
technology. backbone of the future offshore transmission network.
These are:
Although all technologies for the offshore grid already
exist in principle, there are several aspects of HVDC • lines/branches: these consist of submerged
VSC technology which require technical development cables characterised by transmission capacity;
in the short term in order to achieve the necessary • offshore nodes (hubs or plugs): these offshore
technical maturity - such as the availability of ultra fast nodes consist of offshore platforms containing

HVDC conversion equipment, switchgear and other Regarding electricity loss, HVDC has significant
electrical equipments, and will serve as: losses at converter station level, but lower losses
- common connection points for a number of per km than AC. There is thus a trade off in the
offshore wind farms; use of DC versus AC. Therefore, the nodes of the
- common connection points for a number of grid should be located near spatially clustered wind
other marine generators; and farms, as in this way a few nodes per country can be
- intersections (junctions) of network branches determined, but offshore wind clusters not too far
allowing the electricity to be dispatched to the from the coast should be directly connected to shore
different electricity markets. with an AC line.
• Onshore nodes: connection points between the
offshore transmission grid to the onshore trans- EWEA’s 20 Year Offshore Network Development
mission grid. Master Plan
The offshore grid topology basically builds upon the EWEA’s 20 Year Offshore Network Development Master
following types of transmission highways: Plan is based on the necessary grid upgrades that
would allow all planned, proposed, under construction
• A. interconnectors developed by TSOs (in principle and operating offshore wind farms to transport all the
through bilateral cooperation) for the purpose of electricity produced to European electricity consumers
cross border exchange between electricity markets in an economically sound way. It is underpinned by
(current state of play); the TradeWind study and existing TSO plans, and is
• B. lines specifically developed for connection of designed, in addition to connecting offshore wind
offshore wind farms, and offshore facilities (current farms to the grid, to increase electricity trading oppor-
state of play); and tunities and improve Europe’s energy security.
• C. lines developed in a coordinated effort for the
purpose of connecting offshore wind, marine tech- EWEA urges other stakeholders, particularly the
nologies and the promotion of cross border trade. European Commission in its Blueprint for a North Sea
Grid and ENTSO-E’s System Development Committee,
The capital costs of the HVDC converter stations are to incorporate EWEA’s 20 Year Offshore Network
higher than corresponding substations in AC, while the Development Master Plan, taking into account
cost of cables is lower for DC than for AC. the results of European-funded projects such as
WindSpeed (www.windspeed.eu) and OffshoreGrid
(www.offshoregrid.eu).
Spotlight on specific EU-funded projects
OffshoreGrid will develop a scientifically-based view The main objective of the WINDSPEED project is to
on an offshore grid in northern Europe along with identify a roadmap to the deployment of offshore
a suitable regulatory framework that takes all the wind power in the central and southern North Sea.
technical, economic, policy and regulatory aspects The roadmap includes the definition of an offshore
into account. The project is targeted at European wind energy target and a set of coordinated policy
policy makers, industry, transmission system opera- recommendations for the deployment of offshore
tors and regulators. The geographical scope is firstly wind in this specific sea basin. WINDSPEED delivers
the regions around the Baltic and North Sea, the a decision support system for the evaluation of the
English Channel and the Irish Sea. Secondly, the physical potential for offshore wind, having inputs
results will be transferred by qualitative terms to the such as policy targets for all users of the sea, alloca-
Mediterranean region. tion rules and calculation rules for the assessment
of impacts on offshore wind economics.

how an offshore grid will evolve In the 2030 timeframe the UK link to Ireland will be
improved, as will its link to the node off the coast of
In northern Europe the offshore grid spans around Norway via the Shetland Islands; Ireland will be directly
Great Britain and Ireland, the North Sea including the connected with France, and the nodes off the coast of
Channel and the Baltic Sea. Belgium and the Netherlands are interconnected with
German and UK nodes.
North Sea and Irish Sea
Baltic area
The topology in this area links the countries bordering
the North Sea: the UK, Norway, Denmark, Germany, In the Baltic Sea the main offshore grid elements are
the Netherlands, Belgium and the north of France. the following:
• on the western side, the Kriegers Flak 1,600
The future North Sea offshore grid will evolve out of MW wind farms will be considered to be the first
existing TSO plans. Improving Norway’s connection to nucleus for an international offshore grid once it is
the European grid will allow offshore wind farms in the successfully connected to three markets (Germany,
North Sea to connect to these interconnectors, and Denmark, Sweden);
will at the same time improve the connection of Nordic • further main grid elements are the NordBalt
hydro to northern Europe. EWEA therefore proposes Interconnection between Sweden and Lithuania,
to take the best practice example of Kriegers Flak in preferably built with HVDC-VSC technology, together
the Baltic Sea and apply this principle to the intercon- with a second line between Finland and Estonia
nectors already being studied - NorGer, Nord Link and (Estlink II) and a reinforcement of the Swed-Pol line;
Norway/UK. EWEA proposes a three-legged solution • further strengthening between Germany/Sweden,
for each of the planned lines: Germany/Denmark, and Denmark/Sweden.
• NorGer: planned as a link between Norway and Kriegers Flak

Germany but EWEA proposes also linking it to
Denmark and having a trajectory and node in the Kriegers Flak is seen as a flagship project at European
German EEZ(21) to enable offshore wind farms to level. It is located on a sandbank (Kriegers Flak) in
be connected. the Baltic Sea, and is likely to consist of a combi-
• Nord Link: planned as a link between Norway and nation of three wind farms connected to Sweden,
Germany but EWEA proposes also linking it to Germany and Denmark, for a total capacity of 1.6
the UK and having a trajectory and node in the GW. Three different TSOs are involved: Vattenfall,
German EEZ to enable offshore wind farms to be Energinet.dk and Svenska Kraftnätt.
connected;
• Norway/UK: planned as a link between Norway figure 17: Vattenfall Europe Transmission,
and the UK but EWEA proposes also linking it Energinet.dk, Svenska Kraftnät, 2008
to Germany via a node, which would also allow
UK Round 3 farms to connect in UK waters and
provide an additional node for Norwegian offshore
wind farms (and oil and gas platforms).
EWEA also proposes additional three-legged solutions

and other lines for the 2020 timeframe:
• a link between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales;

• a link between Belgium, the UK and the Netherlands;
• a cable off Northern Norway linking to an offshore
node;
• an u pgrade between Denmark and Sweden SOURCE:“Kriegers Flak progress report”.
EEZ: Exclusive Economic Zone

(21)

Table 2: EWEA’s 20 Year Offshore Network Development Master Plan (North and Baltic Seas)
Capacity
Name, description and timeframe Status
(MW)
Existing - 11 offshore grids
NorNed linking Norway and the Netherlands Operating 700
Skagerrak linking Norway and Denmark Operating 940
HVDC linking France and the UK Operating 2,000
Kontek linking Germany and Denmark Operating 600
HVDC linking Germany and Sweden Operating 600
Konti-Skan linking Denmark and Sweden Operating 300
SwePol linking Sweden and Poland Operating 600
HVDC Linking Swedish mainland and Gotland Operating 260
Estlink linking Finland and Estonia Operating 350
Fenno Skan linking Sweden and Finland Operating 500
Moyle Interconnector linking N. Ireland and Scotland Operating 500
In the 2020 timeframe
Planned/under construction - seven offshore grids
Great Belt, internal Denmark Planned by 2010 600
Fenno Skan II linking Sweden and Finland Planned by 2011 800
BritNed linking the UK and the Netherlands Planned by 2011 1,000
East-West Interconnector linking Ireland and north Wales Planned by 2012 500
Estlink II linking Finland and Estonia Planned by 2013 700
Upgrade linking Norway and Denmark (Skagerrak) Planned 350
NordBalt linking Sweden and Lithuania, possibly as HVDC-VSC (formerly 700 to
Planned by 2016
SwedLit) 1,000
Under study - 14 offshore grids
Internal HVDC between Scotland and England Under study 1,800
Internal HVDC between Scotland and Wales Under study 1,800
Internal HVDC between Scotland and Shetland Islands Under study 600
Internal HVDC between Scotland and Isle of Lewis Under study 600
Internal HVDC in Scotland Under study 600
Nemo HVDC linking Belgium and UK Under study 1,000
Upgrade linking UK and France (EFA) Under study 2,000
Under study by
Skagerrak 4 linking Norway and Denmark 600
2014
Under study by
Cobra Cable linking the Netherlands and Denmark 700
2016
Under study
NorNed 2 linking Norway and the Netherlands 700
2015 - 2016

Capacity
Name, description and timeframe (North and Baltic Seas) Status
(MW)
(Under study with EWEA recommendation – four offshore grids)
Kriegers Flak linking Denmark, Sweden and Germany.
EWEA recommendation: The EU and countries involved should push
Under study 600 each
forward with the project for a three-legged solution as outlined by the
recent TSO pre-feasibility study(22)
NorGer linking Norway and Germany.
EWEA recommendation: NorGer should be developed as a three-legged
HVDC-VSC line linking Norway, Germany and Denmark, as a modular
Under study
connection with a higher capacity potential. With appropriate financial 1,400
2017 - 2018
support from the Commission it should be able to plug in offshore wind
farms in Norwegian EEZ waters bordering the Danish EEZ, and offshore
wind farms in the northern part of the German EEZ
Nord Link linking Norway and Germany.
EWEA recommendation: Nord Link should be developed as a three-legged
HVDC-VSC line linking Norway, Germany and the UK), as a modular connec-
Under study 700 to
tion with a higher capacity potential. With appropriate financial support
2016 - 2018 1,400
from the Commission it should be able to plug in offshore wind farms in
Norwegian EEZ waters bordering the Danish EEZ and offshore wind farms
in the norther-western part of the German EEZ
Norway/UK linking Norway and the UK.
EWEA recommendation: This line should be developed to become
Under study
a three-legged HVDC-VSC linking the UK, Norway and Germany with
2017 – 2020
possibly three nodes as a modular connection, with a higher capacity 1,000 to
(characterised by
potential and with appropriate financial support from the Commission. 5,000
Statnett as low+
The node in the Norwegian EEZ could allow offshore wind farms to plug
maturity)
in, together with the Ekofisk and Valhall platforms, and could link to the
north-western node in German EEZ
EWEA recommendation - eight offshore grids
EWEA
Three-legged HVDC-VSC line linking Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales 1,000
recommendation
EWEA
Three-legged HVDC-VSC line linking Belgium, UK and the Netherlands 1,000
recommendation
EWEA 2,000 to
HVDC Netherlands linking to offshore node
recommendation 5,000
EWEA
HVDC North Norway linking to offshore node 2,000
recommendation
EWEA
Upgrade linking Denmark and Sweden (Konti-Skan II) 360
recommendation
EWEA
Upgrade linking Germany and Sweden 600
recommendation
EWEA
Upgrade linking Poland and Sweden 600
recommendation
EWEA
Upgrade linking Germany and Denmark 550
recommendation
(22)
Energinet.dk, Svenska Kraftnät, Vattenfall Europe Transmission, 2009. ‘An analysis of Offshore Grid Connection at Kriegers Flak in
the Baltic Sea’.

Capacity
Name, description and timeframe (North and Baltic Seas) Status
(MW)
In the 2030 timeframe
EWEA recommendation – six offshore grids
EWEA
Upgrade linking the UK and Ireland 1,000
recommendation
EWEA
HVDC linking the UK (Shetland Islands) and north Norway node 2,000
recommendation
HVDC linking the UK and the Netherlands (as a modular connection, EWEA 2,000 to
possibly also linking Belgian node) recommendation 5,000
EWEA 1,000 to
HVDC linking the Netherlands with NorGer node
EWEA 1,000 to
HVDC linking the Netherlands node with Nord Link node
EWEA
New HVDC linking Ireland and France 1,000
recommendation
Offshore grid construction timeline - staged Onshore connection points are identified. Dedicated
approach (HVDC) offshore lines are built by TSOs to inter-
connect clustered wind power capacity. Dedicated
Most of the electricity grids in the world have been regulatory regimes are established for offshore
put together from the bottom up, connecting local transmission, enabling TSOs to recover investments
producers with nearby off-take points, and this will not via the national electricity market. The process
be different with the offshore grid. The construction starts towards the internationalisation of regula-
of an offshore grid is a process that will take many tory regimes. The necessary onshore transmission
years to be fully accomplished. Even the implementa- reinforcements are identified. The multilateral grid
tion process of a single line is very lengthy (around 10 planning process is prepared. Work on the stand-
years), involving several stages (Figure 18). ardisation and technical development of HVDC VSC
technology speeds up.
figure 18: Stages in a typical timeline for building
an offshore interconnector total process duration is Stage II: Transition to transnational grid
around 10 years
A process of multilateral grid planning is in place. Long-
distance lines dedicated to offshore wind are planned
and implemented. Implementation of pilot projects for
connecting offshore wind power to different markets
(Kriegers Flak, super-node). HVDC VSC technologies
are optimised, based on operational experience.
Adaptation of trajectories of planned offshore inter-
SOURCE: Statnett, 2009 connectors to connect offshore wind power.
A possible timeline for the construction of a trans-
national offshore grid is sketched in Figure 18. The Stage III: Transnational grid
timeline falls naturally into three main stages:
Step by step implementation of the transnational
Stage I: Local (national) grids offshore grid. The planned lines are built. The maps
illustrate a proposed grid scenario for the short term
Countries establish and implement coordinated (present situation to 2010), the medium term (2020)
connection for offshore wind power at national level. and the long term (2030 and beyond).

figure 19: Stages in the development of a transna- • operating and maintaining the grid in a secure and
tional offshore grid. The actual rate of development of equitable way, whilst granting fair access to the
offshore wind power capacity might follow a more step connected parties; and
by step development • scheduling the HVDC lines for the predicted
amounts of wind power and the nominated
amounts of power for trade.
The operation of the offshore grid will, however, be an

integral part of the operation of the interconnected
European grid and therefore very close coordination
is required between the various connected power
systems, which is a challenging task for the newly
formed ENTSO-E. It is therefore vital that ENTSO-E
establishes a structure that is suited to such coop-
eration, for example through the North Sea Regional
Group, as well as within the System Operations and
Market Committees.
SOURCE: XPWind, EWEA
Onshore grid upgrade
The offshore grid cannot be isolated from the rest of

the network. The rational development of such a grid
for the purposes of promoting trade and connecting
offshore renewable power has to be part of an overall
planning process for the European networks.
The consequence in the short to medium term is that proceed invest

onshore reinforcements have to be implemented on
specific transmission corridors and lines. The exact
locations of corridors and lines to be upgraded need
to be identified by detailed studies(23).
One of the first studies that looked into this issue was
the TradeWind project. On the basis of wind power
scenarios, the study identified upgrades that would
significantly alleviate the congestions in the European
grid for wind power scenarios up to 2030.
The operational and regulatory aspects of

offshore grids
Network operation: close cooperation within

ENTSO
Photo: Siemens
The principal operational tasks concerning the

offshore grid are:
Such as the German study: DENA, 2005. ‘Integration into the national grid of onshore and offshore wind energy generated in
(23)
Germany by the year 2020’. Available at: http://www.dena.de/en/topics/thema-esd/publications/publikation/grid-study.

Beside these organisational developments, one of variability introduced by the offshore wind resource.
the first tasks for the TSOs and industries involved is As an example, north-west Germany is identified as an
to set up a system of standards and grid connection energy surplus area with high internal congestions on
requirements. New standardisation efforts are needed the mainland grid. Taking into account the fact that the
in the field of HVDC, more specifically to agree on a Netherlands and Belgium will benefit from increased
common system of voltage levels. Furthermore, in imports, and that Norway has large amounts of control-
order to enable a smoothly and efficiently constructed lable and storable hydro power, an offshore grid which
grid, it will be essential that parties agree on a system linked these countries together would bring consider-
of plug and play and standard – interchangeable able economic, environmental and system benefits(24).
building blocks.
In the Baltic Sea, linking the wind farm clusters in
Combining transmission of offshore wind the Kriegers Flak together would enable flexibility for
power and power trading transporting higher amounts of offshore wind power to
areas with higher electricity prices. Furthermore, such
The capacity of the offshore grid should be suffi- a link would make it possible to trade power effec-
cient to transport the maximum expected output of tively between Sweden, east Denmark and Germany in
the connected offshore wind farms. However, this periods with low wind speeds.
maximum is only produced for a certain amount of
hours each year. On average (annual basis or longer), Regulatory framework enabling improved
the capacity factor of the offshore wind farms, and market rules
so the capacity usage of the line by the wind farm, is
approximately 40%. The offshore wind farms should At present, there are significant barriers in the elec-
have first call on the rights to use the grid connec- tricity market in Europe, which hamper an efficient
tion, as: combination of trade and offshore wind power trans-
mission via a transnational offshore grid:
• in a properly functioning electricity market, wind
power’s very low marginal cost will ensure it is • the differences in regulatory regimes and market
the cheapest (and environmentally most benign) mechanisms of the countries involved;
electricity at any time on the market place; or • a lack of proper rules with respect to priority
• in the absence of a properly functioning electricity feed-in for wind power versus nomination of day-
market (as is currently the case) priority access ahead and intra-day trade.
would need to be granted to wind power, as stip-
ulated in the EU Renewable Energy Directive These issues should be taken up in the ongoing
2009/28/EC. Regional Initiative for the integration of European
power markets as pursued by ERGEG. In order to
Either way, wind farm operators would specify their ensure that sufficient grid capacity is built in time,
grid requirements to the grid operator on a day-ahead a common regulatory regime should be put in place
basis, together with functioning intra-day markets. to incentivise the organisations responsible for wind
The remaining capacity would then be available for farm connection (TSOs) and organisations responsible
interconnection users at day-ahead nomination, for planning interconnection (TSOs, market parties) to
together with functionioning intra-day markets. plan and construct the most economically efficient
grid system.
The benefits of the operation of such a grid for the
market have been outlined by the TradeWind project. It is necessary to establish a legal and regulatory
The offshore grid enables the different electricity framework that enables an efficient use of the different
markets to be interconnected in a much better way lines of the offshore grid in all its stages. In order
and with a significant surplus, with markets relying to ensure an efficient allocation of the interconnec-
on import and at the same time providing access tors for cross-border trade, they should be allocated
to cheap balancing power to deal with the added directly to the market via implicit auction.
TradeWind, 2009. ‘Integrating Wind - Developing Europe’s power market for the large-scale integration of wind power.’
(24)

Photo: Siemens
Further market integration and the establishment of at EU level of market mechanisms favouring wind
intra-day markets for cross border trade are of key power integration, leading to the following results:
importance for market efficiency in Europe when inte-
grating large amounts of offshore wind power. In this • flexibility of rescheduling dispatch decisions in the
way, the market will respond more adequately to the generation mix: accepting intraday wind power
characteristic properties of wind energy(25): forecasts by shortening gate-closure times would
result in a reduction in the total operational costs
• its predictability, which improves with a shorter of power generation of at least €260 million per
forecasting horizon and as the size of the area for year;
which the forecast is organised increases; • fl exibility of cross-border exchange (assuming suffi-
• its variability, which decreases as the size of cient transmission capacity): allowing the intraday
the geographical area increases due to spatial rescheduling of cross border exchange would lead
de-correlation; to annual savings in system operation costs of
• its low marginal costs and low CO2 emissions €1-2 billion per year.
which favour the use of wind power whenever
wind is available, even at times which can be chal- Economic value of an offshore grid
lenging in situations of low load, near minimum
generation level. Intrinsic value of offshore grid
Taking these properties into account, TradeWind used There are several ways of evaluating the economic
market models to help estimate the economic benefits value of an offshore grid. A basic distinction can be
TradeWind, 2009. ‘Integrating Wind - Developing Europe’s power market for the large-scale integration of wind power.’ Available at:
(25)
http://www.trade-wind.eu.

made between the purely market orientated approach

which looks at economic benefits for specific interested
parties (for example investors) and the ‘regulated’
approach, which looks at the benefits to society.
A preliminary assessment of the costs/benefits of a

transnational offshore grid in the regulated approach
indicates that it brings high economic value to society.
This can be concluded from the TradeWind analysis,
with an estimated reduction in operational cost of
power generation at the European level of €326 million
per year, as brought about by a meshed offshore grid.
The benefits are to a great extent due to the added
flexibility introduced when including an HVDC network
that links many countries (Norway, Denmark, Germany,
the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK in the North
Sea and Sweden, Denmark and Germany in the Baltic
Sea). Because HVDC connections are controllable,
bottlenecks in the AC grid can be avoided when trans-
porting offshore wind power to consumers in areas
with an energy deficit or high local generating costs.
As demonstrated by TradeWind, a €326 million reduc-

tion in annual total power generating costs can be
interpreted as a very conservative estimate of the
break-even cost for the extra investments needed
to realise a meshed transnational offshore network,
compared to a more nationally orientated approach.
Taking into account factors that are not covered in the

TradeWind cost model, such as the start-up cost of
thermal generators, internal grid constraints and the
balancing of wind power, the operational benefits of a
meshed offshore grid could very well be significantly Photo: GE
higher than estimated by the model. It is also impor-
tant to note that the offshore grid structure was by no
means optimised in the TradeWind study. Apart from the economic benefits highlighted above,
the actual implementation will create high social
This conclusion is in line with findings of the study by benefits in terms of economic growth, industrial devel-
Veal(26), which looked into the economics of combining opment and employment.
offshore connections with interconnectors for trade.
The combination appears to be cost-effective in The value of an offshore grid in the context
many scenarios, depending on the distance from of a stronger European transmission network
the offshore wind farm cluster to shore. Certainly for
distances of more than 90km from shore, there is On a European level, the benefits of the transmission
always some economic benefit gained from integrating network upgrades – such as building subsea intercon-
those wind farms that lie among the interconnector’s nectors linking offshore wind farms - are even more
route, or where this route can easily be diverted to significant. A preliminary evaluation has been made
pass through the wind farm area. within the TradeWind project, which calculated the
C. Veal, C. Byrne, S. Kelly, 2007. ‘The cost-benefit of integrating offshore wind farm connections and subsea interconnectors in the
(26)
North Sea’. Proc. European Offshore Wind Conference and Exhibition, Berlin, Germany.

Investments and financing
Investment cost estimates
Until now, few studies have published estimates on

investment costs for a Europe-wide offshore grid. Two
recent reports made some preliminary calculations
which allow ballpark figures to be estimated for the
total investment cost of a transnational offshore grid.
• Greenpeace(27): this study proposed a grid in the

North Sea for 68 GW of offshore wind power, to
be in place by around 2025. The topology consid-
ered for the study has a total single line length of
6,200 km. Assuming 1 GW capacity per line, the
proposed grid would cost €15-20 billion;
• TradeWind(28): the additional investment costs were
estimated for a meshed offshore grid connecting
the “far” offshore wind farm clusters with a total
installed capacity of 80 GW in the North Sea to
those in the Baltic Sea, according to the 2030 high
scenario. The additional investment costs for the
topology were estimated to be around €9 billion,
taking into account specific cable lengths and
transmission capacities (not including the costs
of the interconnectors envisaged already now for
trading purposes);
• for comparison purposes: the UK’s East Coast
Transmission study(29) looked at an offshore
network along the east coast of GB linking in the
Shetland and Orkney Islands in 2020. It estimated
a total investment cost of €5.5 billion.
Taking into account the fact that the offshore network

discussed in this chapter is more extensive than the
topologies used in the studies mentioned above, a safe
reduction in the operational costs of power generation bottom line assumption for investments in offshore
caused by dedicated grid upgrades. transmission up to 2030 is in the range of €20-30
billion. This number would include both the ‘trade’
For TradeWind’s 2020 grid and wind power scenario, interconnectors and the dedicated lines for wind power
the savings in operational costs amount to €1.5 connection. For comparison, the International Energy
billion per year, allowing for an average investment Agency (IEA) estimates total investments in European
cost of €490 million for each of the 42 transmis- electricity transmission grids of €187 billion in the
sion upgrade projects that were proposed, including period 2007-2030(30). The economic projections and
several offshore HVDC lines. Because this estimate budgeting should be made within the framework of a
assumed a less strong interconnection between total upgrade of the European transmission network,
the countries around the North Sea than the one which also comprises the required onshore upgrades.
proposed in this report, it should be considered as It is evident that a detailed assessment has to be
conservative. based on detailed network designs. Furthermore in
(27)
Greenpeace, 2008. ‘A North Sea Electricity Grid [R]evolution’. Available at: http://www.greenpeace.org/belgium.
(28)
TradeWind, 2009. ‘Integrating Wind - Developing Europe’s power market for the large-scale integration of wind power.’
(29)
Seanergy: East Coast Transmission (January 2008).
(30)
International Energy Agency, 2008. ‘World Energy Outlook’.
Photo: Vestas
the assessment of the economics, the cost of elec- investments with higher risks and longer return rates.
trical losses and operation and maintenance costs Upfront guarantees are needed, possibly in combina-
should be taken into account. tion with regulated returns. Such guarantees should
be based on the cumulative number of consumers
Financing the European electricity grid on the interconnected markets. The final cost for the
consumers, however, would be lowered by the fees
The financing of the future pan-European offshore grid collected by the network operators through the use
will involve significant investments. Therefore a good of the interconnector. Therefore, as the European
understanding of the transiting electricity volumes, electricity market becomes fully operational, trading
which will come from the production of the offshore develops, and the grids are used at full capacity, the
wind parks and the development of trading, is neces- cost for the final consumer would be minimal.
sary to ensure a sustainable return on investment.
If allowed by regulators, merchant interconnectors
Investments in regulated interconnectors, performed could represent additional profits for TSOs, which
and operated by TSOs should prioritise meshed grids. would incentivise their construction. Private compa-
In this respect, the regulators should allow these nies investing in these face higher risks, in particular

for the connection of large offshore wind arrays, as dedicated streamlined legislation, support should
the profitability of the interconnector would then be provided to the investments. In this respect, the
depend on the development speed in the area. In European Economic Recovery Plan is a welcome small
these cases, the investment could be guaranteed by step in the right direction. But existing EU instruments,
a specific instrument, for example by the European such as the funds for Trans-European Networks,
Investment Bank Risk Sharing Finance Facility or the forthcoming ‘Marguerite fund’, managed by
(RSFF). the European Investment Bank, should be directed
towards offshore wind power, key components of the
As described previously, the bankability of the future value chain, and electricity infrastructure for offshore
pan-European electricity grid seems ensured, but wind power. At regional level, structural funds should
investments should happen in a timely manner. In also be directed towards the development of electricity
order to speed up the process, and in addition to infrastructures.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that a transnational offshore grid issues. Appropriate standardisation work should be
infrastructure be built to connect the predicted 40 GW carried out in the short term.
by 2020, 85 GW by 2025 and 150 GW of offshore
wind power by 2030, together with the promotion of Preliminary topologies will be presented, including
trade between electricity markets. A realistic planning possible time frames (short, medium and long term).
schedule for the offshore grid should closely follow Ongoing studies like the European Commission
existing initiatives for offshore interconnectors, and funded OffshoreGrid project are expected to provide
would conceive a grid in a modular and methodical way. more detailed analyses in the short term. These
The transnational offshore grid must be planned as an proposals should be taken up as soon as possible
integral part of the European transmission system and in the planning process of ENTSO.
involve onshore reinforcements where necessary.
A common regulatory regime should be put in place
An ambitious European vision must be established to incentivise the organisations responsible for wind
using EWEA’s 20 Year Offshore Network Development farm connection (TSOs) and the organisations respon-
Master Plan; the planning and implementation process sible for planning interconnection (TSOs, market
should involve close cooperation and efficient coordi- parties) to plan and construct the most economically
nation between the stakeholders (European TSOs). efficient grid system.
ENTSO-E should provide the appropriate forum for coop-
eration, should a sufficiently ambitious vision emerge Preliminary assessments of the economic value of
in ENTSO’s 10 Year Network Development Plan. the offshore grid indicate that it will bring significant
economic benefits to all society.
HVDC VSC is a promising technology and R&D should
be accelerated to address the remaining technical

Chapter 4
Supply Chain
Photo: Vestas
Building a new European offshore industry parallel. In the development of offshore, the door is
still wide open for innovative concepts and designs.
In the last few years, the offshore wind energy sector
has emerged as a distinct sector of the wind industry. Therefore, the European offshore wind industry
In terms of technology, the onshore market is should be seen as a specific industry, distinct from
approaching maturity, with well established processes onshore wind industry development. Reaching 40 GW
and reliable mass-produced products. Onshore, tech- of offshore wind energy by 2020 will mean manufac-
nological improvements are focused on delivering turing, installing and operating approximately 10,000
large numbers of wind turbines and ensuring cost wind turbines, which corresponds to an average of
competitiveness through the optimisation of the three to four offshore turbines being installed per
manufacturing process and supply chain manage- working day over the next 12 years. Currently, the wind
ment. Research is focused on further improving the power industry installs 20 onshore wind turbines in
products’ reliability and efficiency. the EU per working day. Developing a new European
offshore industry is a challenge, but the development
The offshore wind energy sector is at a much earlier of onshore technology and markets serves as a strong
stage of development. In terms of annual installa- indicator and benchmark for what can be achieved.
tions, offshore wind energy is where onshore wind
was in the early 1990s. With 1.5 GW installed today, This industry will also develop in partnership with
the sector will shortly leave the demonstration phase related industries, such as the oil and gas sector, the
to enter a phase of strong industrial growth. In the shipbuilding industry and the steel sector, and be a
coming years, the main focus will be on standardising driver for their future development. Offshore wind
the installation processes and developing dedicated energy provides an historic opportunity to create a
offshore turbines from a dedicated supply chain, just new heavy industry in which Europe is a technology
as it was for onshore wind 15 years ago. leader, uniting existing heavy industries in a common
effort to tackle climate change and improve the secu-
Whereas the size of onshore wind turbines, and rity of Europe’s energy supply, whilst reducing energy
onshore turbine technology, seem to be reaching an imports, creating new jobs and ensuring European
optimum, offshore wind turbine technology is still technology leadership.
progressing and evolving fast, to reflect the require-
ments of conditions specific to offshore, such as Cost reductions for the offshore wind energy sector
market evolution and economies of scale. In this will arise in particular from higher market volumes
field, incremental technology innovations are taking and longer production series from the industry. The
place, but technological breakthroughs are sought in project scale will increase, and the trend will continue

Chapter 4 - Supply Chain
towards larger offshore wind farms in the 200-300 manufacturers and developers, this causes bottle-
MW range and beyond, using dedicated and standard- necks in periods of high onshore demand.
ised offshore turbines. This will enable streamlined,
repeatable installation processes, and provide incen- MAKE consulting(31) (Figure 20) indicates that there is
tives to build the necessary installation vessels and currently more production capacity in Europe than is
access technologies. Regarding access, dedicated needed to fulfill European demand. Total onshore and
harbours will be necessary to support the implementa- offshore demand is forecast to reach 10 GW in 2010,
tion of a large number of offshore wind turbines and compared to a production capacity of approximately
foundations. 12 GW, if castings are considered as the limiting
elements. That would leave room for production
In the following sections, some of the major cost capacity to be available for offshore manufacturing.
drivers are addressed: turbine supply, the available
substructures, vessels and harbours. In addition, offshore wind turbine manufacturers are
increasing their capacity. A minimum offshore turbine
Supply of turbines capacity of 5,750 MW by 2013 (Table 3), will be suffi-
cient to supply the increase in the offshore market
Today, six turbine manufacturers are already supplying demand from 1.7 GW in 2011 to 6.8 GW in 2020.
the offshore market: Siemens, Vestas, REpower, BARD,
Multibrid and Nordex. 2008 was characterised first by component and then
turbine supply shortages which led to growth in wind
Most current offshore turbines are adaptations of turbine prices, partly due also to an increase in the
onshore designs. The production capacity for offshore price of raw materials. The market will now see signs
wind turbines is therefore dependent on the growth in of relaxation, including offshore turbine availability,
the onshore market. Given that the onshore market and increased competition, which may drive the costs
is less risky than the offshore market for turbine down in the medium term.
Table 3: Turbine supply estimates four years ahead
Offshore
Turbine supply Projected production Offshore capacity
Manufacturer capacity
2008 (MW) (MW) and timeline (MW)
2008 (MW)
Siemens 1,947 649(32) 6,000 2,000
Vestas 5,581 - 10,000 by 2010 2,000(33)
REpower 943 - 2,600 by 2010(34) 850(35)
BARD Engineering - - 400 by 2010 400
Multibrid 50 50 505 505
Nordex 1,075 150 4,450 by 2011 n.a.
Source: BTM Consult, 2008. “World market update 2008” for the supplied capacity in 2008, and EWEA.
The economics of offshore wind tends to favour significant modification of onshore machines by the
larger machines. The offshore environment may allow offshore sector, and in the medium and long term, to
the relaxation of a number of constraints on turbine the development of specific offshore turbine designs.
design, such as aesthetics and sound emission level.
However, addressing marine conditions, corrosion This trend is reflected by the new generation of offshore
and reliability issues creates new challenges in the wind turbines which are coming on the market. These
offshore sector. In the near term this will lead to a larger designs (in the 5 MW range) are dedicated to the
(31)
MAKE Consulting, 2009. ‘The wind forecast, supply side’.
(32)
Siemens reserved one third of its capacity for offshore wind.
(33)
No data available. Estimate assumes Vestas delivers as much as Siemens.
(34)
Based on Reuters Article Repower Plans Capacity Expansion April 2, 2008.
(35)
Assume 1/3 of capacity.
FIGURE 20: Domestic production capacity in Europe focus is reliability and cost efficiency. In this regard, a
compared to demand (MW) global approach to the value chain is needed. In the
past, upscaling was a major cost driver for the wind
industry. However, while large wind turbine designs (up
to 10 MW) are often cited, this raises the issue of the
availability of the installation vessels and cranes able
to install and operate these machines. The main driver
for offshore wind technology continues to be economic
efficiency, rather than generator size.
For future applications, the key element will be to

further improve turbine reliability, as the accessibility
of offshore wind farms for repair and maintenance is
lower than for offshore. Two philosophies are currently
emerging in this regard:
1. improving wind turbine intelligence, imple-

Source: MAKE Consulting, 2009. ‘The wind forecast. Supply side.’ menting redundancy, advanced control algorithms,
condition monitoring, and preventive maintenance
offshore environment, and are aimed at addressing its algorithms;
major challenges, such as marinisation, corrosion, reli- 2. developing simple, robust wind turbines
ability and maintainability. including as few moving parts as possible to limit
the risk of failure (two-bladed, downwind, direct-
There is no consensus within the sector regarding the drive turbines, variable speed with new generator
optimal size of an offshore wind turbine as the main concepts).
Photo: Dong Energy

Table 4: Offshore wind turbine manufacturers
Manufacturer Power output Record
Siemens Wind Power has stated that it is prepared to reserve up to one third of its
production capacity for offshore wind turbines. In offshore development, Siemens
has taken a lead position, with the SWT3.6 107. This position was further strength-
ened in 2008, when the company signed an agreement with Denmark’s DONG
Energy for the supply of up to 500 offshore turbines.
Bonus – now Siemens Wind Power - pioneered the offshore installation of wind
turbines with the world’s first offshore wind farm at Vindeby, Denmark, installed in
Siemens 3.6 MW
1991. Since then, its track record includes Nysted Havmøllepark, Burbo Offshore
Wind Farm and Greater Gabbard. Siemens Energy will supply 175 of its SWT-3.6-
107 (3.6 MW) wind turbines to the 1 GW London Array offshore windfarm owned by
DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar.
Siemens is currently developing its next generation of offshore turbines, and
testing 3.6 MW direct drive concept, suitable for offshore applications, with the
aim to improve reliability and reduce costs.
Vestas is one of the few players that has experience in the offshore sector. In
late 2008 the company won a large order of 300 MW for Warwick Energy’s Thanet
project in the UK. Vestas will increase its total production capacity (onshore and
Vestas 3 MW
offshore) to 10 GW in 2010. No reservation of capacity has been announced for
offshore. The offshore turbine supply will rely on the developments of the onshore
market.
The N90 offshore is an adaptation of the onshore design. This turbine is designed
Nordex 2.5 MW
for offshore use.
REpower manufactures some of the largest wind turbines in the world suitable for
offshore use, the 5M (5 MW) and the 6M (6 MW).
REPower will install six 5M in 2009 at the test project Alpha Ventus. The 5M
serial production begun in autumn 2008 in a new construction hall in Bremerhaven.
In the beginning of 2009, the first three 6M turbines were erected close to the
Danish-German border, where they are to be tested for offshore operation and
REpower 5 and 6 MW where they will be subjected to a type certification.
REpower is participating in the “Beatrice Demonstrator Project” to test the perform-
ance of the 5 MW turbine on the open sea 25 km off the east coast of Scotland
and at a water depth of over 40m. REpower recently signed an agreement with
Vattenfall to supply 150 MW to the Ormonde wind farm. Delivery is scheduled to
start in 2010.
BARD has developed a specific offshore design. Their development focuses on

the Deutsche Bucht. In the first phase BARD has planned three wind farms each
BARD Engineering 5 MW with 80 turbines of 5 MW. The permit for the project “Bard Offshore 1” has already
been obtained.
Multibrid developed a specific offshore design based on a 5 MW permanent

magnet generator and a single stage planetary transmission, currently being tested
Multibrid 5 MW at Alpha Ventus. Multibrid will supply 80 M5000 turbines for the offshore Global
Tech 1 wind farm (400 MW). Global Tech 1 is located 90 kilometres from the coast
in the German North Sea. Delivery is scheduled for 2011-2012.
Source: MAKE Consulting, own elaboration.

In addition to the current market players, newcomers
are taking an interest in the market, such as Acciona,
which is participating in the UK’s Round 3 with a
marinised 3 MW turbine(36), and Gamesa, which may
produce a 3.5 MW offshore turbine before 2015,
depending on market dynamism. In addition, the
upcoming large market volumes may also attract non-
European newcomers.
The future for wind turbine designs
In order to establish large production volumes,

several pressing demands have to be met. This can
be realised through a strategy focused on producing
continuous, incremental improvements in the current
basic concepts of wind turbine systems. Besides this
strategy of incremental improvement, offshore project
designers and operators, for instance, are requesting
the development of completely new concepts. This
second approach is also an opportunity to make signif-
icant reductions in the cost of energy by developing
innovative concepts. These two strategies should be
Photo: Dong Energy

developed in parallel.
This dual approach is illustrated Figure 21, through

the evolution of maintenance costs as a function of
concept lifetime. A typical learning process demon-
strates an increase of maintenance and repair cost
immediately after putting a new concept into operation. This dual approach applies for offshore wind energy.
Through incremental technological improvements, the On the one hand, manufacturers focus on incremental
maintenance and repair costs decrease. For an innova- innovation by improving product reliability, increasing
tive concept, it is likely that a new learning trajectory component lifetime and developing preventive main-
with the same characteristics will be followed. tenance strategies. On the other hand, breakthrough
concepts are discussed, with the objective to make
FIGURE 21: Illustration of problem-solving and inno- offshore turbines as simple and robust as possible.
vation orientated research
Offshore operation and maintenance of wind turbines
is still very much in its infancy with each project
having its own approach. As the amount of operational
offshore units increases, the operation and mainte-
nance (O&M) function will have to be certified and
unified to create a unified O&M industry. Some ideas
that may be introduced into the O&M market are as
follows:
• swing off systems enabling a spare nacelle to
replace a nacelle in need of service;
• preventive and automatic systems that can carry
out oil, brush and filter changes independently of
Courtesy: Jos Beurskens, ECN. human presence;
Recharge, 12 June. ‘Taking our turbines offshore will be a breeze says Acciona’.
(36)

Photo: Stiftung Offshore Windenergie

• multi–coated blades keeping blade maintenance to number of major overhauls during their lifetimes to
a minimum; ensure efficient operation, as does any conventional
• modular drive trains should be introduced making power generation plant. Wind turbines are currently
heavy part replacement easier. Service schedules designed in such a way that the exchange of main
should be modelled on those from the conven- components or sub assemblies is difficult. More
tional power industry with proper life time analysis efficient and newer drive train concepts are needed
of the different components. to bring turbine reliability up to the required level. A
more modular build up of drive trains with more built
Improving the reliability of offshore wind turbines is in redundancy could help faster, cheaper and more
paramount to the success of offshore wind energy in efficient turbine maintenance. The need for extremely
the future. The larger the machine and further away reliable machines offshore can also be an extra driver
from the coast, the larger the economic loss for non- for the reliability of onshore machines.
operation and associated maintenance. Vintage wind
turbines often have the same gearbox for their entire Innovative concepts, such as variable speed, direct-
working lives. Modern wind turbines are much larger drive offshore wind turbines are currently emerging,
and optimised by weight and efficiency. They need a with the aim of limiting the number of moving parts

and lowering maintenance costs, as gearboxes are The offshore wind industry will need to deploy upwards
expensive to replace offshore. A multi-pole gearless of 10,000 structures by 2020. The offshore manu-
machine also operates at lower drive train speeds and facturing industry cannot deliver this in its current
thus creates less stress on components. A main chal- form. The industry currently has insufficient capacity,
lenge for these concepts is to reduce the weight on top and the processes adapted from oil and gas manu-
of the tower, in order to optimise the use of material facturing are not capable of delivering the volumes
and limit the transport and installation costs. So far, required. Therefore the offshore wind industry must
gearless machines have been heavier and more expen- take urgent steps to rectify this situation. In addition,
sive to produce than their geared equivalent. Lighter the supply of substructures should not been seen as
gearless technology is now being tested onshore. independent from their transport and installation as
an integrated approach is taken, taking into account
Larger machines (5 to 10 MW), specifically designed unique site conditions and the location of the wind
for offshore could bring benefits in terms of econo- farm.
mies of scale by placing fewer larger machines on
fewer foundations, or increasing the wind farm’s Substructures represent a significant proportion of
power output. For example, economies of scale offshore development costs. In the case described
could also be realised by increasing the lifetime to by Papalexandrou(37), the foundation represents 25%
30 years, provided it does not negatively affect the (5 MW turbine) to 34% (2 MW turbine) of investment
design. costs in 25m water depth. Thus, novel sub-structure
designs and/or improved manufacturing processes
Concepts such as two-bladed downwind turbines that reduce costs will be critical to improving the
could emerge in the medium term. Two-bladed economics of offshore developments.
machines are louder in operation making them less
appropriate onshore, but not offshore. A two-bladed
machine would be easier to install as nacelles can
be stacked with the full rotor mounted, whereas the
single blade lifts of the third blade for the bunny
eared configuration are highly dependent on calm
weather. No large two-bladed offshore turbine is
currently in operation.
Supply of substructures
The offshore manufacturing industry was originally

developed by the oil and gas industry to supply a limited
quantity of bespoke structures. It established a number
of facilities around Europe to manufacture these struc-
tures, and over the last 40 years it has built several
hundred of them. However, as oil and gas technology
has moved towards subsea developments, offshore
manufacturing capacity has been significantly reduced.
Today the main actors in the offshore wind industry are

civil marine engineering firms such as MT Højgaard,
Per Aarsleff, Bilfinger and Berger, Hochtief, Züblin,
Dredging International, Van Oord and Ballast Nedam.
Photo: Elsam
The same goes for the vessels used: Buzzard, Jumping

Jack, Vagant, Excalibur, Eide, Rambiz and Svanen are
mainly used for marine works.
Papalexandrou, 2008. ‘Economic analysis of offshore wind farms. KTH School of Energy and Environment, in partnership with Ecofys’.
(37)

Table 5: Overview of the different types of substructures
Brief
Type of Suitable
physical Advantages Limitations
substructure water depths
description
One Easy to manufacture, experi- Piling noise, and competitive-
Monopile steel supporting 10 – 30m ence gained on previous ness depending on seabed
pillar projects conditions and turbine weight
Combination of proven
Monopile
One methods, Cost effective,
concrete,
supporting 10 – 40m less environmental (noise) Heavy to transport
installed by
pillar impact. Industrialisation
drilling
possible
Concrete Transportation can be prob-
structure, lematic for heavy turbines. It
Up to 40m
Gravity base used at´ No piling noise, inexpensive requires a preparation of the
and more
Thornton seabed. Need heavy equip-
bank ment to remove it
Steel
cylinder with
sealed top No piling, relatively easy to Very sensitive to seabed
Suction bucket n.a.
pressed into install, easy to remove conditions
the ocean
floor
Tripod / 3/4-legged Up to 30m High strength. Adequate for Complex to manufacture,
quadropod structure and more heavy large-scale turbines heavy to transport
Expensive so far. Subject
to wave loading and fatigue
failure. Large offshore instal-
Lattice Less noise. Adequate for
Jacket > 40m lation period (first piles, later
structure heavy large-scale turbines
on placing of structure and
grouting) therefor sensitive for
weather impact
Not in Suitable for deep waters,
Weight and cost, stability, low
Floating contact with > 50m allowing large energy poten-
track record for offshore wind
seabed tials to be harnessed
Floating
Spar buoy steel
Hywind being cylinder 120 - 700m Very deep water, less steel Expensive at this stage
tested attached to
seabed
Floating
Blue H
steel
Semi Prototype
cylinder Deep water, less steel Expensive at this stage
submersible being tested
attached to
in 113m
seabed
Source: Carbon Trust, EWEA, Companies

FIGURE 22: Shallow water and medium depth first prototype has been built and has been opera-
foundations tional since June 2009;
• the Blue H concept (Figure 25), recently tested
in Italy, has been selected by the UK’s Energy
Technology Institute (ETI) as one of the first
projects to receive funds as part of its £1.1 billion
initiative. This UK based project aims to develop
an integrated solution for a 5 MW floating turbine
deployed offshore in waters between 30 and 300
meters deep. In addition, Blue H was recently
selected under the Italian framework “Industria
2015” to develop a hybrid concrete/steel 3.5 MW
floating wind turbine ideal for the deep waters of
the Mediterranean Sea;
• the Sway concept is developed in partnership with
Statkraft and Shell in particular. It is based on a
floating elongated pole far below the water surface,
Source: Carbon Trust as published in Recharge 26/06/09. with ballast at the bottom part. The centre of gravity
being far below the centre of buoyancy, the system
Today, there is no standard offshore substructure remains stable. It is designed for turbines of up to
design, and at depths of over 25m the foundation 5 MW and water depth from 80 to 300m.
costs start to increase dramatically. Most offshore
structures developed to date use 2–3 MW turbines FIGURE 23: Tripod foundation for the Multibrid
in water depths of up to 20m, and most of those to turbines at the RAVE test site
be developed in the near future will do the same.
These will be largely based on monopile technology
and gravity-based structures (Figure 22). However, as
turbine size increases and the industry migrates into
deeper waters, additional sub-structure designs will
be required. Different concepts will compete, such as
fixed structures with three or four legs (tripods/quad-
ropods) (Figures 22, 23 and 24), gravity structures
or jackets. Such technologies are suitable for water
depths of up to 50-60m, depending on the project
economics, and site conditions and would be therefore
well adapted to countries with medium depth waters.
In order to harness the offshore wind potential of

deeper waters such as those off the Norwegian coast,
the Atlantic Ocean, or the Mediterranean Sea, floating
designs are required (Figure 23). Three demonstrators
are available in Europe today:
• the Hywind concept from Statoil Hydro (Figure 26),
consists of a steel jacket filled with ballast. This
floating element extends 100 metres beneath
the surface and is fastened to the seabed by
three anchor piles. The turbine itself is built by
Siemens. The total weight is 1,500 tonnes. The
Source: www.alpha-ventus.de

FIGURE 24: Medium and high depth foundations FIGURE 25: Blue H technology
necessary quantities, on schedule and to the required

Source: Carbon Trust as published in Recharge 26/06/09. standards, at an acceptable price. This will require
significant investment in new manufacturing yards
and in the associated supply chain. It will also mean
the deployment of new and improved manufacturing
processes, procedures and equipment to increase
production efficiency and reduce costs.
FIGURE 26: The Hywind concept
Source: Recharge Simon Bogle and Offshore Stiftung / Jan Oelker.
In the short term, standard, easy to manufacture sub-

structure design is essential for large-scale offshore
wind deployment. However, to reduce the unit cost of
substructures, new and improved materials and manu-
facturing technologies are required for welding, casting
and pouring concrete. These must be coupled with
more efficient manufacturing processes and proce-
dures, making use of automation and robotics, for
example. Unique concrete/steel hybrids may also be
developed in the future.
In the near term, the major deployment issue is the

development of the production facilities and equip-
ment for manufacturing the sub-structures in the

Vessels - turbine installation, substructure multi-turbine vessels that can fully exploit the available
installation and other vessels weather windows. A number of ambitious plans exist
to build new large capacity ships. The Gaoh Offshore
The current market for offshore wind turbine installa- vessel (Figure 32 on p.58) is an ideal example, as it
tion makes use of a number of different vessels for has a planned capacity of 18 x 3.6 MW wind turbines
different projects, and also draws on some vessels including towers and rotors. However many of the
from the oil and gas sector and civil marine sector. planned vessels lack sufficient finance to build due to
A critical element of the offshore supply chain will be the increased reluctance of banks to take risks due to
the availability of installation vessels to facilitate the the financial crisis and the lack of support work in the
installation of 10,000 offshore wind turbines, together oil and gas industry.
with the necessary substructures and cables by 2020.
New Energy Finance (Figure 27) forecasts a shortage
Compared to existing offshore sectors (oil and gas, of installation capacity after 2011, with an installation
marine installation), the installation processes for capacity of 2 GW per year.
the offshore wind industry are extremely demanding,
due to a higher number of operation days, and repeti- In addition to the turbine and tower installation vessels,
tive installation processes. Many installation vessels only a few vessels are available for heavy foundation
are not ideal for such conditions. Their equipment is installation(39). Heavy lift vessels from the oil and gas
often not up-to-date(38) as most up-to-date vessels are industry are not suited to serial installation of foun-
booked by the oil and gas industry. dations, largely because of their cost. The industry
will therefore rely on scarce equipment to achieve its
The installation of offshore wind turbines has fostered objectives.
the creation of specialised jack up vessels to ensure
the turbines can be quickly and efficiently installed. An additional barrier to offshore wind deployment
Initially the firm A2SEA converted two feeder vessels will be having sufficient offshore personnel trained
to install the Horns Rev I wind farm, which were again to operate these boats at the required security
used for the major repairs. The record for putting up level. Another factor that can complicate the use of
the tower, nacelle and blades of one turbine on Horns vessels is the need to be able to operate in different
Rev was close to eight hours. The second generation jurisdictions.
of offshore wind installation ships was pioneered by
the MPI Resolution. This vessel is also able to install FIGURE 27: Project, turbine and vessel supply forecasts
foundations and lay cables. Currently there are three compared to annual government targets (MW)
factors which are driving the current development of
Turbine Installation Vessels (TIV):
• wind turbine size, as larger turbines imply larger
ships;
• water depth, as the deeper the water, the more
expensive and larger a turbine installation ship
needs to be;
• distance from shore, as the further a site is from
the supply harbour (and the larger the capacity of
the turbines) the higher the transport costs to site;
• optimisation of installation in a given weather
Note: Turbine demand derived from developers’ estimates after 2011.
window.
Source: New Energy Finance.
The current technology trend will favour large-scale
vessels able to carry multiple pre-assembled wind The type of vessel to be developed depends greatly
turbines. Turbine installation vessels have the advan- on the strategy to be chosen for deploying the future
tage of being custom built, fast-moving, self-propelled, parks. A key conclusion of the Beatrice project is that
Dynamic positioning systems are of vital importance for the precise positioning of wind turbines and safe installation offshore.
(38)
http://www.bnoffshore.com.
(39)

2 WF M
C
1
most of the offshore assembly should be done on FIGURE 29: High speed jack-up vessel shuttles from
land. Previous experience has led to the bunny ear manufacturing site
configuration whereby nacelles have the hub and
two blades mounted on shore and the third blade
stacked onboard a ship for installation. However, as
installing the third blade at sea is a sensitive and time WF M
consuming element of the lifting operation, a trend

should emerge towards the ‘one lift concept’ of fully
erected turbines. This means that the offshore wind 2 WF M
industry should be located near harbours, in order C
1
to optimise operation and lower costs (see harbours
section).
Source: BVG Associates
Three installation strategies are illustrated below:
Assembly Offshore
WF M
Pre-assembly at harbour
Using this method, feeder vessels supply an offshore
Turbines, substructures and towers are shipped to a jack-up vessel to the installation site. The advantage
support harbour(40). At this support harbour final fitting of this method is that the installation vessel does
WF M
and assembly takes place. When the pre-assembly not need to be used for transport. However, an extra
work is finished the turbines are transported and loading operation has to be used to load the feeder
installed at site by a turbine installation vessel. This vessels or barges.
was the installation configuration used for Horns Rev
1, for example.
FIGURE 30: Feeder barge shuttles from manufac-
turing site to jack-up at wind farm site
FIGURE 28: Ship turbines to local construction port,
jack-up vessel shuttles from there
WF M
2 WF M
C
1
Source: BVG Associates
Source: BVG Associates (40b) The choice of a given installation strategy depends on
the economic balance between the number and type of
ships used, the distance to the coast, and the trans-
Manufacture and pre-assembly
WF at harbour
M
portation / operation risks involved. For instance, the
third strategy limits the transition times of the instal-
This approach entails the setting up of an assembly lation vessel. However, it requires a second ship, and
operation close to the site. A second approach is means the wind turbines have to be handled a second
shipping the pre-assembled turbines directly from the time from the feeder to the installation vessel. A2SEA
turbine manufacturer to the site. Suppliers based in demonstrated that such a strategy could be economi-
Bremerhaven, for example, are able to deliver this type cally viable compared to the first and second options
of service. for UK Round 3, involving longer distances to the coast.
(40 & 40b)

BVG Associates for UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, 2009. ‘UK Ports for the Offshore Wind Industry: Time to Act’.
WF M

In addition to installation vessels, effective access FIGURE 31: Two new access systems, Windcat
systems will be essential for the operation of the Workboat (top) and Ampelmann (below)
offshore facilities and the safety of personnel involved
in the installation, hook-up, commissioning and opera-
tions and maintenance (O&M) of the turbines. These
systems must be capable of transferring people and
equipment safely to the turbine. They must provide a
suitable means of escape and casualty rescue and be
robust in northern European weather conditions.
A variety of access solutions will be needed. These

will range from helicopters through to an array of
different-sized boats and jack-ups capable of lifting
the heaviest components into and out of the nacelle.
This will require the development of specialist vessels
that can replace and repair major equipment, such as
gearboxes and blades.
Figure 31 shows two of the access systems devel-

oped: the access catamaran developed by Windcat
Workboats and the Ampelmann system by TU Delft.
Recommendations:
The installation of 40 GW by 2020 will require dedi- cost in the region of €200 million, with a total invest-
cated offshore installation vessels for the offshore ment of €2.4 billion. Accessing capital to build such
wind energy sector. Such vessels should be able to vessels requires strong and stable market conditions
install offshore wind farms in medium water depths to guarantee return on investments. To speed up the
(30-40m and beyond), and operate in harsh condi- process and enable the timely delivery of the neces-
tions, in order to increase the number of days of sary number of installation vessels, specific financial
operation from an estimated 180 days a year to measures are required. The European Investment
260-290 days. Ideally, these vessels should be able Bank in particular should take the necessary meas-
to carry assembled subsystems, or even a set of ures to support the risk related to these significant
assembled turbines in order to limit the number of investments. Through the European Investment
operations performed at sea. Bank, the necessary financing instruments exist for
renewable energies. As key elements for the deploy-
On the basis of a minimum capacity of 10 turbines, ment of offshore wind power, installation vessels
10 sets of blades and 10 tower sections, 12 instal- should be eligible for such instruments, expanded
lation vessels will be required. Each vessel could accordingly.

A brief introduction to some vessels used in heavy-lift vessels when suited can be used for foun-
turbine installation dation, turbine, and cable installation, such as Eide
(installation at Nysted I, II and Lillegrunden), Rambiz
The tables below present a non-exhaustive list (Beatrice, Thornton Bank), or HLV Svanen (Egmond
of vessels that can be used for foundation and aan Zee, Gunfleets Sand and Rhyl Flats).
turbine installation. In addition to those presented,
Table 6: A selection of vessels and jack-up barges currently active in wind installation with an operating depth of
>30m(41)
JB-114 and
JB-109 SEA Jack Resolution LISA Kraken Titan 2
JB-115
Jack-up barge Seajacks
Owner A2SEA A2SEA MPI Vroon SMIT
NV int
Max 35 with leg
Operation depth 50m 35m 50m 50m 40m 50m
extensions
Crane max. 280t 600t 300t 600t 280t 700t 180t
Self Self
Self
Jack-up propelled Jack-up crane Jack-up ropelled
Configuration Jack-up barge propelled
barge jack-up ship barge jack-up
vessel
barge barge
160 38 60
Accommodation 50 incl. crew Max 60 160 optional na
optional standard optional
The MPI Resolution and the Kraken are the only dedi- currently working in the oil and gas sector. The Kraken
cated turbine installation vessels currently capable of is to return to wind installation shortly and is to be
working at more than 30m water depth. The Kraken is joined by a new sister ship.
Table 7: Selection of vessels currently active in wind turbine installation with an operating depth of <30m
Attribute Sea Energy Sea Power Excalibur

Owner A2SEA A2SEA Seacore
Operation depth 27m 14.3m 30m
Crane max 120t 120t 220t
Configuration Jack-up crane ship Jack-up crane ship Jack-up barge
Accommodation 36 incl. Crew 36 incl. crew 20 plus crew
Sea Energy and Sea Power are the original turbine in- though optimised for wind, is not self propelling.
stallation vessels used at Horns Rev 1. The Excalibur,
(41)
The Bard Wind Lift vessel is not included as this will be used by BARD Engineering themselves.

Table 8: Some vessels due to enter service in the near term
Wind
Attribute Adventure Discover Shamal Scirocco Inwind Gaoh Blue Ocean
Carrier
Seajacks Seajacks Wind
Owner MPI MPI Inwind Gaoh
Int Int carrier
Operation depth 40m 40m 40m 40m na na 40m 60m
Crane max. 1,000t 1,000t 700t 200t na na 1,600t 1,200t
Self Self Self Self Self

Self
propelled propelled propelled propelled propelled
Configuration na na propelled
jack-up jack-up jack-up jack-up jack-up
jack-up ship
crane ship ship ship ship ship
52 incl.
120 incl. 60 incl. 121 incl.
Accommodation Max 120 crew na na na
crew crew crew
Awaiting
In service Q1 2011 Q3 2011 na na na na Q3 2011
finance
Table 9: Vessel availability (for European offshore wind installation) by type of application
Vessel type Vessel supply

Survey vessels
Used to survey the sea floor in preparation for the
installation of an offshore wind farm.
Currently sufficient for market.
Smaller survey vessels are used to perform
Environmental Impact Assessment studies and
post-evaluation.
Turbine Installation Vessels Three out of four in operation, three being built, 12
Custom built self propelled installation vessels that needed in total.
can carry multiple turbines at a time. Extremely difficult to finance in the current climate.
Construction support vessels
Used to assist in the construction of offshore wind Sufficient but supply dependent on demand from oil
parks. Includes motorised and non-motorised jack and gas sector.
up barges, barges, pontoons and platforms.
Work boats
Support the work of other vessels by providing Sufficient vessels.
supplies of tools and consumables to other boats.
Sufficient for scheduled maintenance work.
Service vessels Construction and installation vessels are often used for
major service work.
Crew transfer vessels Sufficient vessels and quick to build.
Source: own elaboration, EWEA members’ expertise.

Future innovative installation vessels Figure 33: Blue Ocean Ships multiple carrier concept
As previously described, the installation of 40 GW

by 2020 will require dedicated offshore installation
vessels for the offshore wind energy sector. On the
basis of a minimum capacity of 10 turbines, 10 sets of
blades and 10 tower sections, 12 installation vessels
will be required.
These vessels should be able to install offshore wind

farms in medium depths (30-40m and beyond), and
operate in harsh conditions, in order to increase the
number of days of operation to 260-290 days. In the
best configuration, these vessels should be able to
carry assembled sub-systems, or even a set of assem-
bled turbines, in order to limit the number of operations
performed at sea. Ports and harbours
Such vessels are currently under development, such A number of specially adapted ports is critical for
as the concepts illustrated in Figures 32 and 33. A supplying the offshore market. These facilities should
market visibility over five years is required to secure possess deep water and reinforced quaysides to take
the financing. In the current financial situation, the the large weight of turbines, and large storage areas
financing of these major supply chain components is with low premium fees and suitable space to move
problematic. foundations and cranes.
Figure 32: Example of the Gaoh concept. This boat Within the next 10 years, manufacturers will have
is designed to lift 18 3.6 MW turbines in 45m depth, moved close to or located outlets at port facili-
including seabed penetration ties, as is the case in Bremerhaven (see Showcase:
Bremerhaven’s success story on p.60). In the near
future, the Bremerhaven facilities will produce 1 GW
of offshore wind turbines every year. The success
of Bremerhaven is built on a strong political push
for economic diversification, such as an integrated
approach towards offshore wind energy: this approach
is based on a strong manufacturing capacity, testing
facilities, demonstration sites, research and training
facilities, and a dedicated harbour. Such an integrated
approach enables offshore wind turbines to be tested
and demonstrated in near-offshore conditions, manu-
factured on site, and shipped directly to the offshore
site. If this development continues then large trans-
port and installation vessels could collect foundations
and turbines directly from a manufacturing facility
quayside and install them directly.
Source: Ole Steen Knudsen AS.
Harbour requirements
One of the main conclusions of the DOWNVInD(42) project

is a strong recommendation to perform pre-assembly
The objective of DOWNVInD (Distant Offshore Windfarms with No Visual Impact in Deepwater) is to make the step change in tech-
(42)
niques, technologies and processes needed to enable the development of large capacity windfarms offshore in deep water
(http://www.downvind.com).

activities onshore (see section on vessels). In order to UK ports. The UK Department of Energy and Climate
do this suitable ports and harbours need to be able to Change’s recent report(44) identifies UK harbours as
fulfil the following requirements(43), including: potential candidates for the large-scale deployment
• an area of storage of 6 to 25 ha (60,000 to of offshore wind energy. This brochure also proposes
250,000m2); supporting wind turbine manufacturers and developers
•a private dedicated road between storage and quay that wish to launch activities in these areas, thereby
side; promoting an integrated industrial approach.
• quay length: approximately 150m to 250m;
• quay bearing capacity; 3 to 6 tons/m2; In Greater Yarmouth, for instance, which is one of the
• a seabed with sufficient bearing capacity near the main UK facilities for the offshore oil and gas industry,
pier; specific actions are being taken to adapt and extend
• draft of minimum 6m; the harbour infrastructures and services to support
• warehouse facilities of 1,000 to 1,500m2; offshore wind development.
• access for smaller vessels (pontoon bridge, barge
etc);
• access for heavy/oversize trucks; FIGURE 34: Identified harbours suitable for future
•potentially license/approvals for helicopter transfer; offshore wind developments
• being available for the project installation.
Concerning operation and maintenance, the specific

requirements include:
• full time access for service vessels and service
helicopters;
• water, electricity and fuelling facilities;
• safe access for technicians, and
• loading/unloading facilities.
Existing facilities
Ports able to service offshore wind power develop-

ments in the North Sea are illustrated in Figure 24.
A total of 27 harbours are identified, which could be
adapted to the specific needs of the offshore wind
sector. Only a few, however, would be suitable for the
installation of substructures.
1. Newhaven 11. Peterhead Bay
2. Ramsgate 12. Cromarty Firth (Nigg Bay
Germany and the UK, in particular, are very active in port
3. Medway (Sheemess and and Highland Deephaven)
development, which is considered as a way to diversify
Isle of Grain) 13. Hunterston
harbour activities, attract companies and create local
4. Great Yamouth 14. Belfast (Harland & Wolff)
employment. In the case of Bremerhaven, Germany,
5. Humber 15. Barrow-in-Furness
an integrated industrial approach was implemented,
6. Hartlepool and Tees 16. Mostyn
leading to promising successes (see showcase on
7. Tyneside 17. Milford Haven
Bremerhaven on p.60). Such an approach bases the
8. Methil (Fife Energy Park) 18. Swansea/Port Talbot
developments in port activities on strong local part-
9. Dundee 19. Portland
nerships with wind turbine manufacturers, component
10. Montrose 20. Southampton
suppliers, research institutes and developers.
The same trend is emerging in the UK, where initiatives

are underway to improve the “offshore readiness” of
(43)
UK Ports and offshore wind Siemens´Perspective, Presentation by Chris Ehlers, MBA, MD Renewables Division, Siemens plc - 30
March 2009.
(44)
UK Department of Energy and Climate Change. ‘UK Offshore Wind Ports Prospectus’.

Showcase: Bremerhaven’s success story(45)
Bremerhaven has attracted half of the €500 million The industrial development is supported by research
invested in offshore wind power development along the facilities such as Deutsche Windguard, which oper-
German North Sea coastal region during the past years. ates one of the largest wind tunnels in the world,
Its economy, based on shipping, shipbuilding, and a with special acoustical optimisation for rotor blades.
commercial fishery faced a strong economic downturn Another example is the Fraunhofer Institute, which
in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, the local authorities operates a new rotor blade test facility for blades up
evaluated possible means of economic diversification. to 70m long. In future this blade testing capability
The historical strengths of this area included compre- will be expanded to include 100m long blades.
hensive maritime technology know-how and a skilled
workforce specialised in shipbuilding, heavy machinery Specific support was provided for wind turbine
design and manufacture. Offshore wind energy was demonstration, with fast and streamlined permit-
chosen as an alternative development. ting processes (6 weeks for the Multibrid M5000
prototype). Today five 5 MW turbines (four Multibrid
So far, Bremerhaven has attracted (see Figure 35): M5000s and one REpower 5M) are demonstrated
• two offshore wind turbine manufacturers REpower within the Bremerhaven city limits, with specific foun-
and Multibrid; dations designed for offshore implantations.
• two onshore wind turbine manufacturers,
PowerWind and Innovative wind; The success of Bremerhaven is said(46) to be due
• powerBlades, which is manufacturing blades up to a clear and integrated industrial strategy, public
to 61.5m long for REpower 5 and 6 MW turbines; ownership of land, and significant clustering of compe-
• WeserWind Offshore Construction weorgsmarien- tencies. Bremerhaven’s companies have already
hütte, specialised in the design and manufacturing created some 700 new jobs in the past three years,
of heavy steel offshore foundation structures. this is expected to rise to 1,000–1,200. In order to
It has designed the tripod support structures continue this growth, these established and newer
for Multibrid turbines, the jacket-foundations for companies require new workers in both blue and
REpower, and tripods for BARD Engineering. white collar positions. Dedicated training schemes
were put in place internally in the companies them-
Regarding the harbour’s facilities, an additional selves, through the Fachhochschule Bremerhaven,
terminal is planned for 2011. This terminal will be or the co-operation between the technical universi-
capable of directly handling large, heavy and bulky ties of Oldenburg, Bremen and Hannover, involved in
components, and/or complete assemblies – like ForWind, or the Bremerhaven Economic Development
nacelles weighing over 250 tonnes and large rotor Company through the POWER Cluster project(47).
blades with lengths of 61.5 metres and up.
FIGURE 35: Bremerhaven site description
Fraunhofer CWMT
rotor blade test
facility (2008) Rotor blade joint venture
Produktion facility WeserWind Railroad
River Weser Repower Systems AG
32 m Locks GmbH Offshore Construction Abelong & Rasmussen
Georgsmarienhuttle (option) (Start 2008)
Multibrid Production
hall for M5000 B71 3 km
(Existing) to Motorway
Tower production
(reservation)
Heavy load quay
Wind energy heavy load

terminal Luneort Offshore construction
(decided, building in 2008) Center (Existing)
Luneort: Fisherie harbour development for offshore wind

Repower Systems AG - Started in 2003
production hall for 5M - Sand depositing finished, heavy load capable
(construction started)
- Space now completely sold/booked
Source: Windenergie Argentur
(45)
Based on Renewable Energy World, 13 March 2009.
(46)
The role of the RDAs and the Devolved Administrations, March 2009, DECC port seminar.
(47)
http://www.power-cluster.net.

Photo: Dong Energy
Harbours of the Future Other functions:
As discussed in this chapter, offshore manufacturing • aquaculture of raw materials for food, energy and
capacities are likely to be increasingly located near the materials;
harbour facilities, in order to facilitate transport and • shelter in emergency situations;
installation, in particular for large machines. • recreation (yachting marina);
• ‘gas-to-wire’ units;
New concepts are emerging for servicing the future • logistics centre for the fishing sector;
offshore wind farms, such as the Dutch ‘harbour at sea’ • coastguard service;
concept. This concept is currently being developed to • lifeboat service;
service the future large offshore arrays implemented • harbour for offshore.
far from shore. Such multi-purpose platforms could Source: We@Sea
allow sailing times to be reduced for installation and
maintenance. They could also allow host crews and Figure 36: Harbour at Sea concept. Courtesy of
technicians on site, spare parts storage, and provide We@Sea
for offshore installation of transformer stations.
For wind energy:
• a station for transporting, assembling and main-

taining offshore wind turbines;
• accommodation for personnel (hotel);
• storage of spare parts;
• workplaces;
• foundations for commissioning of assembled wind
turbines;
• test site for new offshore wind turbines (five
places),
• transformer station;
• electrical substation for connections on land (elec-
trical hub);
• heliport. Source: www.haveneilandopzee.nl.

Photo: Elsam
Future trends in manufacturing for the offshore • the predominant offshore market is planned for
wind industry the North and Baltic Seas in the short to medium
terms. Countries in this area can expect to reap
• Production of offshore wind turbines can be the benefits of offshore wind development.
expected to remain in the established clusters
in the short term as a stable and reliable supply Bremerhaven has attracted a large number of offshore
chain is in place; players due to its integrated approach towards
• as offshore machines increase in size, more manu- offshore wind energy(48) (see Harbour section on p.58).
facturers will be relocated directly to or close A similar trend may emerge in Dutch and UK ports.
to harbour facilities to ease transportation of The current schemes will however not be sufficient
machines and delivery of components; to supply the necessary number of workers to deliver
• as offshore foundations increase in size and 40 GW offshore wind by 2020, as the market already
complexity they will be built closer to offshore wind faces shortages of project managers and electrical
sites; engineers in particular.
• as offshore installations increase, a large number
of offshore-ready personnel will be needed for the In this chapter, some of the major cost drivers of
installation and later for the O&M of the offshore offshore wind energy were addressed: turbine supply,
wind farms; available substructures, vessels and harbours. Cost
• independent offshore O&M companies will emerge reductions for the offshore wind energy sector will be
as soon as the market is large enough to support brought about above all from higher market volumes
them; and a more established track record from industry.
Bremerhaven has put nine separate initiatives in place to encourage offshore wind turbine manufacturers to relocate there.
(48)
Green Jobs ippr, page 39. 2009.

Project scale will increase, and the trend will continue
towards larger offshore wind farms in the 200-300 MW
range and beyond, using dedicated and standardised
offshore turbines and installation processes. This will
enable the industry to implement streamlined, repeat-
able installation processes, and build the necessary
installation vessels and access technologies.

Chapter 5
Main Challenges
Photo: E.ON
Wind energy is one of six “European Industrial through the development of advanced measure-
Initiatives” proposed by the European Commission to ment techniques and systems, and developing a
accelerate innovation and deployment of strategically high resolution offshore wind atlas;
important technology. These initiatives are intended to • next generation of wind turbines: developing the
facilitate European leadership in energy technologies. next generation of offshore wind turbines, including
exploring concepts of very large scale turbines in
The offshore wind energy resource will never become the 10-20 MW range; and optimising manufac-
a limiting factor. There is enough energy over the seas turing processes and developing the necessary
of Europe to meet total European electricity demand test facilities;
several times over. In a recent study, the European • manufacturing: supporting the take-off of offshore
Environment Agency (EEA) estimates the technical by developing the necessary substructure concepts
potential of offshore wind energy in the EU to be and corresponding manufacturing processes and
30,000 TWh annually. The European Commission capacities, including boats and harbours; devel-
estimates total EU electricity demand of between oping standard and replicable installation and
4,279 TWh and 4,408 TWh in 2030. operation processes; improving knowledge of the
physical environment to reduce development risks
It would require eight areas of 100 km times 100 and uncertainty;
km (10,000 km2.) to meet all of the EU’s electricity • maritime spatial planning: developing spatial
demand, or less than 2% of Europe’s sea area not planning instruments, in particular offshore, to
including the Atlantic. The combined area of the facilitate the planning of the future offshore wind
North, Baltic and Irish Seas and the English Channel energy developments. A foreseen benefit of mari-
is more than 1,300,000 km2. The Mediterranean is time spatial planning is to provide guarantees to
an additional 2,500,000 km2. the supply chain on the future market volumes
at European level. Therefore, investments in the
Although the offshore wind energy resource will never corresponding manufacturing capacities, harbours,
become a limiting factor, it will be a challenge to boats, testing capacities, or human resources
develop a new offshore wind industry in the EU. Some could be performed in advance, while providing
of the main challenges are: guarantees to investors, lowering the risk, and
potentially the cost of capital;
• wind measurements and characteristics: acquiring • personnel: making sure a sufficient number of
more detailed knowledge of the wind on complex people are trained to supply the demand of the
structures for improving wind turbine designs; gath- offshore market.
ering detailed knowledge of wind characteristics

Annex: Offshore Wind Energy Installations 2000-2030
Wind Wind
energy's energy's Annual
Cumulative Annual Wind energy share of share of offshore
CO2 avoided
Year capacity installations production electricity electricity wind power
annually (Mt)
(MW) (MW) (TWh) demand demand (EC investments
(EC ref. New Energy (€ billion)
scenario) Policy)
2000 35.35 3.8 0 0.0% 0.0% 0.007 0
2001 85.85 50.5 0 0.0% 0.0% 0.089 0
2002 255.85 170 1 0.0% 0.0% 0.306 1
2003 515.05 259.2 2 0.1% 0.1% 0.480 1
2004 604.75 89.7 2 0.1% 0.1% 0.175 2
2005 694.75 90 3 0.1% 0.1% 0.185 2
2006 895.25 200.5 3 0.1% 0.1% 0.431 2
2007 1,105.25 210 4 0.1% 0.1% 0.483 3
2008 1,471.33 366.08 5 0.2% 0.2% 0.879 4
2009 1,901 430 7 0.2% 0.2% 1.032 4
2010 3,001 1,099 11 0.3% 0.3% 2.529 7
2011 4,501 1,500 16 0.5% 0.5% 3.300 10
2012 6,459 1,958 24 0.6% 0.7% 3.916 15
2013 8,859 2,400 32 0.9% 0.9% 4.320 20
2014 11,559 2,700 42 1.1% 1.2% 4.320 26
2015 14,659 3,100 54 1.4% 1.6% 4.573 33
2016 18,259 3,605 67 1.7% 2.0% 5.047 40
2017 22,375 4,116 82 2.1% 2.4% 5.557 49
2018 27,240 4,865 101 2.5% 2.9% 6.315 59
2019 33,090 5,852 122 3.0% 3.6% 7.526 71
2020 40,000 6,915 148 3.6% 4.3% 8.810 85
2021 47,700 7,717 177 4.3% 5.2% 9.779 100
2022 56,200 8,500 209 5.0% 6.1% 10.713 117
2023 65,500 9,303 244 5.8% 7.1% 11.662 135
2024 75,600 10,100 282 6.6% 8.2% 12.593 155
2025 86,500 10,904 323 7.5% 9.5% 13.521 176
2026 98,100 11,650 366 8.5% 10.8% 14.367 198
2027 110,400 12,470 413 9.5% 12.2% 15.293 221
2028 123,200 13,059 461 10.6% 13.6% 15.927 244
2029 136,400 13,290 511 11.7% 15.1% 16.118 268
2030 150,000 13,690 563 12.8% 16.7% 16.510 292


Oceans of Opportunity: Harnessing Europe's Largest Domestic Energy Resource

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Oceans of Opportunity: Harnessing Europe's Largest Domestic Energy Resource

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Oceans of Opportunity

Harnessing Europe’s largest domestic energy resource

A report by the European Wind Energy Association

Huge developer interest

Building the offshore grid

Realising the potential

EWEA Results that speak for themselves

A report by the European Wind Energy Association

By the European Wind Energy Association

Editors: Sarah Azau (EWEA) and Chris Rose (EWEA)

Design: Jesus Quesada (EWEA)

Maps: La Tene Maps and EWEA

Cover photo: Risø Institute

OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT 3

1. The Offshore Wind Power Market of the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2. Spatial Planning: Supporting Offshore Wind and Grid Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3. Building the European Offshore Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4 OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT

OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT 5

6 OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT

Photo: Dong Energy

OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT 7

as three other European countries. The rewards for

In order to ensure that the 100 GW of projects can

By 2020, the initial stages of an offshore pan-Euro-

The future transnational offshore grid will have many

improve the ability to trade electricity within Europe,

8 OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT

The offshore wind sector is an emerging industrial Spatial planning

OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT 9

10 OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT

Photo: Dong Energy

Summary of the offshore wind energy market in the EU in 2010:

• Total installed capacity of 3,000 MW • Meeting 0.3% of total EU electricity demand

• Annual installations of 1,100 MW • Avoiding 7 Mt of CO2 annually

• Electricity production of 11 TWh • Annual investments in wind turbines of €2.5 billion

OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT 11

100 GW and counting…

2011 – 2020 As can be seen in Figure 1, EWEA’s offshore scenario

Figure 1: Historical onshore growth 1992-2004 com- 35,000 7,000

12 OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT

and 4.3% of EU electricity consumption, depending on Annual investment (right-hand axis)

a quarter of Europe’s wind energy would be

Figure 3: Electricity production 2011-2020 (TWh) 10 1.5

Offshore wind power investments

Annual investments in offshore wind power are

OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT 13

Summary of the offshore wind energy market in the EU in 2020:

2021 - 2030 energy’s total share to between 26.2% and 34.3% of

160,000 16,000 200

Annual (right-hand axis)

Offshore wind power investments

Wind Energy Production

The 150 GW of installed capacity in 2030 would

contributing 563 TWh.

14 OCEANS OF OPPORTUNITY OFFSHORE REPORT

140 17.5 2,000 320

Annual (right-hand axis) Annual (right-hand axis)

100 12.5 1,500 240

80 10.0 1,250 200

60 7.5 1,000 160

40 5.0 750 120

• closely follow existing plans and ideas from • TradeWind

• NorGer: planned as a link between Norway and Kriegers Flak

• a link between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales;

• Greenpeace(27): this study proposed a grid in the